


Reunion

by missmaryr (mbmatthews1)



Series: Download series [3]
Category: Transformers (Bay Movies)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-06
Updated: 2014-04-12
Packaged: 2018-01-18 10:44:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 29,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1425625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mbmatthews1/pseuds/missmaryr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam goes to the meadow with the sparklings, and finds Sunstreaker.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sideswipe's twin appears.

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Transformers or I would be rich.   
> The explanation for how Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were separated is taken from 'Glances into a Spark ' by Saesama, Chapter 28, used with permission (check out the fanfic, it's good).

Samuel James Witwicky, the human holder of the Cube and former CEO to the company that had revolutionized energy use, stood in the door of his small add-on which was in the Autobot section of the base, and wondered just how Optimus conned him into this little venture.

Sam reflected that six foot tall sparklings, who acted like three year old children made his courtyard feel small. They chattered away in a mishmash of English and Cybertronian that sometimes baffled their caretakers. Sam understood them better than anyone else. Due to the ways the sparklings came into being, he understood spoken Cybertronian, something he kept from his Autobot allies. It made eavesdropping much easier. D

Optimus promised them a ride to a new place with Sam. If Sam knew that asking for a trip to the meadow  involved all this mess, he would have kept his mouth shut. Optimus discovered to his dismay that his name sat on the sparkling caregiver list along with all other bots; being the leader meant giving a good example, Ironhide and Ratchet informed the Prime. Without a moment's hesitation the Prime dragooned Sam into helping.

"Go, Sam? Go soon? Wait long?" one of the little ones begged. The other two clicked out pretty much the same question in Cybertronian.

"Very good," Sam said to the one who spoke English. "I'll find out." He pulled out his phone. A quick text got him a reply. "Optimus is coming now.  Got your toys? "They held up the balls of tough plastic that were their current favorite toys. "Now, remember, you sit still while we're riding. No fighting over the windows, I get one, " he pointed to the blue sparkling, "and you get one on the way down, and you," he pointed to the red one, "get one on the way back." The green one glowered and complained. "You got to ride with Sideswipe when he was doing inside patrol yesterday," he reminded the pouting sparkling. Then they all started to click and squeal in excitement as Optimus rolled up in alt mode. They dove in, two in the back and Sam with the blue one in the front

The trip down was not quiet. The sparklings asked constant questions on anything they passed, rarely waiting for an answer if it was longer than a yes or no. "Are all children like this?" Optimus wondered aloud once.

"Give them a break, they're really excited," Sam replied, grinning. "No, now get back in that harness!" He turned and scolded until the sparkling sulked and complied. "It's good to get out for a bit," he admitted. Since his return, Sam rarely left the base except to visit the nearby town. A bot escorted him, both for protection and to help him feel safe. 

Sam built a company that made solar storage batteries and energon for batteries and for his bot friends. The company did so well that it supported NEST and the bot's needs without government assistance. Just before he was taken, Sam resigned as CEO of the company, handing the company management over to Annabelle Lennox. His granddaughter, Minnie, now acted a liaison for the Autobots. He acted as advisor and back-up when needed. He told his daughter Poppy that he worked hard for over sixty years and it was about time he got a break. Poppy rolled her eyes.

"You know you're a workaholic," Poppy said, in the manner of a quote, "when you work forty hours a week and call it a break." They were in her kitchen, where Bob was giving Sam a cooking lesson. Sam flicked water at her, but Bob, Poppy's placid husband, stopped them before the matter escalated.

"It's having a bad effect on you," Bob deadpanned. "You're getting some white hair, and you're spoiling your grandchildren. Your house is clean without outside help. Your cooking is getting edible. Sometimes I think we might need to move you in here, you know, just for your own good." Bob and Poppy's youngest child had moved out , leaving them with an extra room in their home on the base, where Bob worked in computer processing.

Touched by the offer, Sam decided that he still felt safer in his add-on. "When I need a second job as a housekeeper," he said, and they all laughed. 

On the road to the meadow, Optimus admitted "I wish I could say it was completely safe for you to move around as you did before. But Sideswipe came across another 'meteor' today and Prowl came across another infiltration attempt. My brother is not going to give up easily." Sam only sighed, which worried Optimus more than any argument might.  When Mikaela died and Sam buried his grief in work, he seldom complained and seldom made demands. His family and friends gave what comfort and support they could, and waited helplessly for the mourning to end. Years passed. 

Then daily downloads into a proto-Cube lifted him from his depression. He learned to drive a flying car. He made trips with his grandchildren and visited a few bars. He even took a young lady to the meadow, though that only happened once. He told Optimus  plainly that he had the right to a life. Bumblebee complained and fussed, but the arguments became the friendly bickering they had before Mikaela died.  After Sam's kidnapping and rescue, Optimus took Sam away to talk. The Prime still remembered his friend's tearful, outraged meltdown in this cab. Sam swore that he would never go back to being treated like an object again, that he would die first. Optimus felt Sam meant exactly that. When Sam became quiet and his voice was strained, everyone around him  changed the subject as fast as possible, and distracted him.

 Sam said, "I'd just like to see the meadow. Besides, the youngsters haven't been off the base yet. They could stand to see a little bit of the outside world." He looked ahead and saw the lights of the energon plants. "Not much further, kids. No, you can't play with the balls until you get there, just wait a little longer! Blast it!"

Sam confiscated the balls and Optimus sighed, speeding up. How Sam did survive until his children became adults, the Prime wondered briefly, gratefully turning off onto the driveway that led to the energon storage. The sparklings got quiet as they took in the trees and the large yard. Then Optimus sent the remote signal that opened a doorway in the shield. As they stopped, the shield generator made its whispering sound as it reset. Sam jumped out as the driver disappeared. "Okay, out we get. Go get the balls." He tossed the toys as the sparklings tumbled out, one squalling for a moment as he fell on his face. Sam righted him and he stopped fussing, looking around in wonder at the trees.

"Go explore," Optimus told them.  The sparklings scattered, running gleefully in the open space. "Sam, I have a communication. They think they have the location of the meteor. I will send someone as soon as I can."

"I should have known you'd run out on me the first chance you got," Sam said, with a long suffering voice. "You just tested the shields, right?"

"Both Prowl and I tested them," Optimus agreed. "They should stop everything but a full blast from me or Megatron."

"Works for me," Sam said. He stood in one of the few places he felt safe. "But remember to send someone big enough to hold me and the kids! " He headed for the pond, collecting balls as the sparklings ran, having a grand time just being able to move freely. Sam took a walk around the pond, throwing pebbles in the water and watching ripples. Then he settled beside the woods, where he could see the sparklings playing, keeping a watchful eye that they did not get too close to the pond. When the little ones tired of running, they came to him one by one. He walked them over to the area away from the pond and started a game with the balls. He looked around every once in a while to see if a bot had appeared, but one hour, then another passed, and there was no sign of anyone.

Then he saw a bot backing toward the shield, almost covered in mud and dirt. Sam recognized him from the back. "Kids," he said, "there's Sideswipe. Let's surprise him. Go hide in the woods." They scooted quietly. Their favorite game  surprising anyone. He followed them long enough to see that they were hidden, before sliding through the woods to try to see what was wrong.

The bot's body language screamed threat, but Sam saw nothing. As he approached, he saw a dent in the bot's head. The bot leaned into the shield. Sam got closer. "Sideswipe," he said quietly, knowing the bot would hear him, "trouble?" The bot shifted, but did not look at him. "I'm going to lift the shield for just a moment. Come in and I'll reset. All right?" The bot nodded. Sam raced to the generator and lifted the shield. The bot fell back and rolled.

Sam immediately reset, and the shield hummed up again- just in time to take the brunt of a heavy blow. Sam moved to see Sideswipe moving backwards toward him, still down. Predator, a Decepticon much like Ravage but with the form and the disposition of a wolverine, slammed angrily at the barrier between him and his prey. Sam texted Sideswipe immediately, not wanting to get close enough that the 'con could see him. That must be the infiltrator Prowl was talking about, Sam thought. Sideswipe made it into the woods and stopped, just as Sam's phone buzzed with a text.

: Sideswipe was here, we are on the way now, we are not far. Why do you think he is there?: from Optimus.

:I think I just found your meteor: he sent back, and looked up. The bot sat up and looked at him and the sparklings who came out to stand behind Sam, frightened by the attack on the shield.

They blinked little clear optics at the strange bot. "Not Sideswipe, " one said, and the others clicked in agreement.

"You helped me," the bot said slowly. "Who are you? How did you get the sparklings? I had a mission. I was attacked by Starscream as soon as I hit the ground, got away, that one found me. Sideswipe is my twin. I'm Sunstreaker. " This one's hurt bad, Sam diagnosed, considering how confused he sounded. Sam understood now why Sideswipe visited or tracked all sightings, and he feared he knew why Sunstreaker got attacked. According to Bluestreak, Sideswipe lead the twins, Jolt, and the motorcycle trine from a Decepticon lab where they were imprisoned. Sunstreaker led the pursuing Decepticon in a different direction. When Optimus sent out the call after Egypt, Sideswipe added a call to his twin.

"More help is coming, and the shield is strong," Sam said, noting with relief the Autobot symbol on the bot. "I work with Optimus Prime. I thought you were someone else." There was another attack on the shield. Sam jumped and shuddered. "How long have you been here and when did you learn English?"

"Today. English is the language, right? I don't remember. "The bot's voice sounded uncertain. Weapons work," he added, drawing them two impressive swords. The sparklings clicked behind Sam, startled.

"Put them back for now, you're scaring us." The bot obliged and watched Sam carefully as he looked the bot over. Besides the head injury, there was a leg injury. Despite Sunstreaker's bold claim about his weapons, he stood close to collapsing and Sam felt his spark wavering. "Look, do you want help? "

"What price?" That startled Sam, until he remembered that this bot did not know him. He considered how to word the request, because anyone failing to follow through on an agreement rarely got a chance to regain his reputation. Even the Decepticons  honored agreemens, but you damned well better word it very carefully. Once a leader of a small foreign country made an agreement with Barricade to give the 'con a chance to get to Sam, in return for some kind of weapon. The Decepticon followed through, giving that leader what he wanted, and proceeded to destroy the leader's home city and kill a substantial amount of that city's population before NEST got there to stop the carnage.

"Protect the sparklings, protect me, until help gets here, and don't try to take them or me from my friends. If I do this, I'm not going to be much good afterward. As in I won't be able to run and I might not be able to walk."

"Agreed," the bot said immediately.

"I'm going to lean on you. Stay still." Pocketing his cell phone, Sam put his hands on the bot, leaned, and concentrated. The presence stirred, and sensing the need, sent the power. Sam caught his breath as it flowed. Using the power hurt; it felt like prolonged pins and needles running through his entire body. When the presence used energy a human body was not meant to handle. When he finished, Sam fell to his knees and took deep breaths. His phone buzzed insistently, and he pulled it out of his pocket with effort, every move making his nerves wail. He looked at the text from Sideswipe, asking about the newcomer. Then he heard the sound of a jet. In his panic, he felt power run through his arm, and in the next moment the phone in his hand moved.

The bot watched the human when the jet flew overhead, and saw the sudden glow of power in his hand and saw the little machine he held transform. The sparklings started squealing. The human spoke urgently to them, and they quieted, and once again they hid.

When Sunstreaker came down from space, Starscream attacked as soon as the new bot landed, and in the following fight, Sunstreaker's processor took a bad blow. When he finished beating off Starscream, he found he lost the reason for his desperate trip to this planet. 

Looking for help, the alien swords wielder approached the closest source of power he sensed. He found the shield and help, but not the kind of help expected. The human clearly knew bots. Normally the bot could deal with Predator without thinking twice; damaged as he was, Predator was a real danger. Then Sunstreaker saw the sparklings huddling around the human. That made something in his damaged processor stir through the shock. Sparklings? Where could they have come from, when the All-Spark was supposed to be destroyed? The human spoke to them as if he was their caretaker, and they obeyed him as such. The human looked at the machine in his hand, and then at the bot. His eyes went to the symbol on his shoulder, and Sunstreaker saw that the human knew what it meant. Then he assured Sunstreaker that help was on the way, assuming now that they were allies.

Sunstreaker did not know what kind of help the human could give, but when he named the price, Sunstreaker did not hesitate. He felt the price cheap, considering that he would defend any sparkling and his caretaker. Then the human leaned on Sunstreaker. His hands felt odd, the slightly cool flesh against the warmth of his metal. Power flowed. When the power stopped, Sunstreaker felt better since before leaving Cybertron. His processor cleared. He remembered his mission, the debt he incurred to get here and fulfilled it with one databurst. He knew why the human addressed him by another's name. There was no question about defending the human with the sparklings.

So the information everyone out at the station scoffed at was true. The All-Spark resided in a human, specifically this one. The healing and the transformation proved it. The transformed device clawed its way from the human's weakened grip and began firing something. Sunstreaker stomped on it and helped the human stand. "Hide with the sparklings," the bot advised, scanning for the jet. The sound of a transformation came before a blow to the shield. The trees rocked, and leaves flew, covering the sparklings. The human stumbled. Then he pushed himelf up and moved. Sunstreaker saw the effort in every move the human made on his way to the shield generator. Sunstreaker pulled his swords.

"Well, well, well, "Megatron mocked, looking over the trees down at all of them. "My target, my pet and my sparklings are all here together. How convenient. Drop the shield, pet," Sam winced visibly, "and maybe some of the stupid Autobots coming for you will survive. "

Target? Sunstreaker thought. Why would I be a target, and who would be the other one? The bot dismissed the thought for now; survive this fight and worry about it later, he decided. Fully healed now, mission behind it, a chance at finding his twin when they had been separated, and a challenging fight ahead of it sent his processor screaming for action. "Don't do it," the bot told Sam.

Sam leaned hard on the generator. "I won't," he said, his voice soft.

"So selfish, to let your friends die for you." The Decepticon leader studied Sam through the shield. " Did you waste your strength healing this one, pet? Sunstreaker can't stand against me. Do you remember what happened to Jazz? " Megatron struck the shield again, hard. Sam went down. Sunstreaker braced itself, but the shield held. "Impressive," Megatron reflected, and stepped back to transform. Sam pushed to his feet.

"When I tell you, drop the shield. Sideswipe's here." Sunstreaker told him, his voice excited.

Sam nodded and reached for the controls. He looked to see where the sparklings hid. "Here, kids. Come here by me. "They crept out, and whined, frightened by the tank. "It's okay," he said, lying in his teeth. "Help's coming. Stay by me."

"Now, Sam!" Sam dropped the shield. The shot from Megatron's tank landed on the other side of the pond, missing Sunstreaker who slammed his swords down on the gun with all his considerable strength. It bent. Behind the tank, Sideswipe fired at the treads. The two rained blows, moving as much as possible, as the tank transformed back into Megatron and fought back. It was like they never separated.To be together again was to be whole again. They danced and dodged, moving in perfect harmony, doing just enough damage to keep Megatron's attention and lengthen his distance from the shield.

"Get it back up!" Sideswipe screamed, and Sam fumbled for the controls again. There was the hum; Megatron cursed and flung himself towards Sam and the sparklings, only to slam into the shield. The ground shook as he bounced back. Sunstreaker saw Sam fall and heard terrified sparklings squealing and clicking in Cybertronian. In one swift move the huge Decepticon grabbed the twins and sent them flying, before he turned and fired. A sharp shriek had Sideswipe yelling the human's name. Megatron staggered back. Behind them, Sunstreaker heard the Prime roar. They attacked again, but the enraged Megatron threw them past the charging Prime.

"I'll finish what I started a year ago," the Prime bellowed, and struck hard. Megatron disengaged as Prowl fired from another side, aiming for the damage on Megatron where his own blast ricocheted onto him. Then, even as Optimus lunged, Megatron transformed, heading for the horizon in jet mode even as Bluestreak and Jolt chased Predator toward them. Sunstreaker growled and raced toward the wolverine-shaped con.

"Let me at that slagging glitch, I'll tear it to pieces!" Sideswipe raced behind him. Bluestreak transformed into alt mode and slammed the Decepticon, throwing him forward. Sunstreaker was on top of it with swords out, getting revenge for the earlier attack. Bluestreak transformed back and waited with the others until Sunstreaker stood and slid his swords away. Sideswipe came to stand beside him.

"It's good to have you back, brother," he said, and the others crowded in, adding their own greetings. On receiving an order to fall in, they returned to the Prime. Optimus waited by the shield while First Aid checked the sparklings and a new human bent over Sam.

"Sunstreaker," the Prime said, "we found where you landed and looked for you when Sideswipe received a text from Sam and left without permission." The last came out sternly, as Sideswipe squirmed. "We believed you badly damaged."

Sunstreaker said, "I took a blow that scambled my processors, so I headed for the energy readings I thought meant a shield. The human thought I was Sideswipe and let me in. He saw Predator and fixed me so I could defend him and the sparklings. "

"We heard Sam scream," Sideswipe added. "but the shield held even through that blast Megatron gave it." They all turned to the party behind the shields. The sparklings lay still by Sam.

"I put them in stasis for now," First Aid said. "They're okay, just scared. Jeremy, how is Sam?"

"Sam will be better when he gets to a decent bed," Sam said from the portable stretcher. Jeremy bent over him, working. "Jeremy, is all this really necessary? I could get to the infirmary faster in Minnie's flar without all this crap." Sunstreaker thought the human looked worse than after the healing.

"Complaining again," Jeremy said cheerfully. "When you can't move without hurting, yes you need all this crap." He finished inserting the IV into Sam's arm and shoved a syringe in the IV. "I know the pain meds don't last long, but they will help you for the ride and until we can get you to that bed. Who knows, maybe you'll be able  to sleep. Here comes Minnie." A flying car appeared on the driveway, and then drove past all of them into the meadow. A small young woman with glasses and a concerned expression on her face popped out. Sunstreaker noted that she looked like Sam. "I brought my flar," she said, blinking up at Optimus, and went over to Sam and Jeremy.

"Sunstreaker, scan that and use it as an alt form. You can choose another one at your leisure. Follow me. First Aid, follow Sunstreaker, and Sideswipe, follow First Aid." Sunstreaker stepped over to the flar and scanned as the female human talked to Sam. The rush of words reminded the new bot of Bluestreak. "Are you coming, Minnie?"

She broke off the stream of words and looked up at Optimus, nodding vigorously. "I'll ride with Sam and Jeremy and call Poppy and everybody. I'll get a ride back to get my flar later. "

"Request an escort when you do. Prowl, Bluestreak, and Jolt, deal with Predator in the usual manner and report when you are finished. Stay alert for any other Decepticon activity and ask for backup if needed. Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, I see some minor damage and Ratchet will want to check Sunstreaker over, so go straight to the infirmary. "They nodded. First Aid transformed, and Sunstreaker stepped over to load the sparklings and Sam's stretcher into the ambulance. Jeremy and Minnie climbed in when the bot returned to his twin. Sunstreaker transformed with the others.

"Tell me about the humans on this planet," the new arrival sent tohis twin, and Sideswipe began transferring data.

On the way down, Sam asked First Aid to relay a message to Optimus for him. "You up for that?" the bot asked. "Ratchet's going to be on your case for repairing Sunstreaker as it is, you promised you wouldn't."

"I promised unless it was a matter of permanent offline, and it was. His spark was wavering." Minnie gasped. "And this is important," Sam said. Reluctantly the ambulance told him to go ahead. "First off, neither the sparklings nor I were the target this time. Sunstreaker was." Sam repeated what Megatron said to him. "I think the other target is Sideswipe.  Sunstreaker was confused because of the damage. I never got around to introducing myself because all of you know me, but sometime during the fight he called me by name. Last, Sunstreaker had a virus. "

"Why didn't you tell- oh. Had."

"It's stopped, not gone. Ratchet needs to know. "

"Got it. Relaying." First Aid paused. "Optimus got the message and will deal with the matter."

"Thanks," Sam sighed, and gave in to the pain medicines.

"Why did he go to the meadow today anyway?" Jeremy wondered out loud.

"Mikaela," Minnie said sadly. "It's the anniversary of her death."

 


	2. Virus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a problem is revealed, and the scope is frightening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Transformers (sigh).

Sam left of the infirmary the next morning with a deep sigh of relief. Only a visit fro his youngest son Ronnie relieved his boredom. Returning from an uneventful mission with Bumblebee, Ronnie agreed to go by Sam's add-on and fetch his laptop. Along with the laptop, he brought clothes, after a tightly worded promise from his father that Sam would remain in his infirmary room until he saw the doctor the next day. Sam grumbled, but he finally promised. Over a meal at the cafeteria, Sam told Ronnie about the trip to the meadow, meeting the new arrival, and the fight with Megatron. "Those twins have been apart for at least a century, and they still fought like a team," Sam said.

"I've seen Sideswipe fight, and he's good," Ronnie said. In the search for Sam after his capture, his family found that 'crackpot killer robot' sites sometimes posted true sightings. One resulted in Sam's rescue, and a new engineer for the energon plants, but there were other hits. In addition to his position as Ironhide's partner liaising with the military, Ron investigated sightings with Bumblebee, whose scout training proved more useful that Ironhide's firepower.

"Yes, but Sunstreaker was the one who covered the escape, according to Bluestreak," Sam said. Minnie did a lot of small repairs for the bots at her 'garage' at the energon plant, and with Bluestreak kept up with the lastest sutomotive news. For that reason she heard all the bot gossip, and passed it on to Sam. "Sideswipe brought Jolt, the other Twins, and the trine with him when he arrived, probably the largest group that came together." Ronnie yawned, and Sam sent him home to his family. Back in his hospital room, Sam instant-messaged with Bumblebee.

"They were some of the best fighters the Autobots had," Sam's guardian confirmed. "Sunstreaker was more ruthless and Sideswipe more the thinker. You've heard what Decepticons did with prisoners." Sam said he did; what the Decepticons did with captured Autobots made his experience seem like a walk in the park with roses. "The researchers were interested what you would call psychic bonds. Getting the group out and then getting all of them to a level of functioning that kept them alive made Sideswipe into more of a leader. We all thought Sunstreaker dead, but Sideswipe wouldn't give up." Bumblebee signed off to report. Sam leaned back and considered the situation. Then he spent the rest of the night working; the familiar routine soothed him after the stress of dealing with Megatron.

In the morning, his doctor appeared before breakfast came around. "Go home and rest for at least two days," Dr. Sheena Anderson told him. "And I don't mean work on the computer all day! Give your nerves and your reserves a break." She looked over his tests. "Can I talk to Poppy?"

"Poppy and Optimus, if they ask. I'll call Annabelle," Sam said, resigned. He already talked to his elder daughter, who agreed to bring him a new cell phone. Sam began the download into the prototype Cube again. He went every morning, and spent an hour. The prototype grew enough that Optimus could read some of the symbols. Sam looked forward to the time the Cube would be complete enough to function for the Autobots. At the rate he downloaded now, the complete process would take about two more decades. He went into the infirmary, spoke briefly to Ratchet, and settled himself.

An hour and a half later, Poppy arrived at human side of the infirmary and discovered her father gone. After speaking to the doctor, she headed to the bot section of the infirmary. Used to having free run of the infirmary all her life, she looked around for her father until she saw an odd light in a door window and peeked in. Sam lay on a comfortable couch, his hand on something vaguely square that glowed just a little. Close by was a computer with two screens. One showed odd symbols, which she recognized as Cybertronian. It took her longer to see the other, as it moved in a blur. Then it froze for just a moment, and she figured out what it was. "Oh, Daddy," she said in a choked voice, not seeing the yellow bot approaching her with his sword out. The sword was gone when she turned, her face streaked with tears. On seeing him, she gave a sharp intake of breath with a frightened look. "God, Sideswipe, you made me jump!" She looked closer, wiping at her face. "Hold on a moment, you're not Sideswipe, your color is different. Are you the new one, Sunstreaker?"

"Yes. You are Sam's daughter?" She nodded. "Yes," she said, remembering that he might not know the gesture. "Mind telling me what happened yesterday? I know that Optimus took Dad and the bot babies to the meadow, and left," the disapproval dripped from her voice," and then you came?" She started to walk toward the infirmary. Sunstreaker gave her a short summary. "Damnation. Now those slagging glitches will watch the meadow. There goes Daddy's peaceful retreat." They reached the main room of the infirmary, and Ratchet, bent over one of the tables, saw her.

"When did you get here, Poppy, and where were you just now?" the medic demanded. "I'm still looking at the results of those tests, Sunstreaker, so just be patient. Sideswipe will be back after a time." Ratchet stood straighter, and Poppy could see he was holding one of the sparklings. Seeing her, the sparkling squealed and wriggled to get down.

"I got here just a moment ago, looking for Daddy," she said, as the sparkling raced over to her, clicking at first, but finding his English as he danced around her.

"Poppy come see Sam, Sam okay? Poppy play with balls?" he begged, and she laughed at his antics.

"Yes, Sam's okay, and yes, I'll come play for a bit until Sam's finished. Ratchet, I spoke to Sheena earlier and she said that Daddy's nerves were inflamed last night, worse than usual, but he was fine again this morning. Ronnie saw him last night, said he slept about six hours altogether and was beginning to get cranky when Ronnie showed. Ronnie is one of my brothers," she told Sunstreaker.

Ratchet said, "Go on out to Jolt, and Poppy will be there in a few moments," to the sparkling, who dashed out. "Why were you crying?"

She cursed under her breath, and wiped at her eyes again. "I saw what was on those screens, where Daddy is," she admitted. "It was Mom, back when she was young, when they were young. And now we can't go back to the meadow again, can we?" she went on. "Like Daddy needs to be boxed in any more than he already is. Can I leave my purse here for a while if I'm going to play with the kids?"

"You know where to put it," Ratchet said, and she nodded. A few moments later, she followed the sparkling, and from the courtyard nearby they could hear her shouting as the sparklings squealed, clicked, and occasionally yelled back. "When she was born she was smaller than the first joint of my finger," the medic said, "and her mother kept her here while she worked with me. In a quarter of a vorn she was grown, and soon after on the battlefield."

"What happens when Sam dies?" Sunstreaker asked. While the question sounded cold, Ratchet knew that all new bots asked it sooner or later. The Cube lasted for millennia. Now the All-Spark was housed in a short-lived, fragile human. "She spoke as though Sam needed to have more freedom, but doesn't he have to be protected?

Ratchet put up the tools that he used for maintenance on the sparkling, and considered how to explain. Speaking in Cybertronian, the bot said, "Until a year ago, no one was sure that Sam held the All-Spark. We suspected. Even Megatron gave orders that Sam was to be captured, not killed. We knew he had the knowledge from the Cube, and that sometimes he would become very focused on a project. Usually it had to do with us, and turned out to be important. He built the energon plants, and the company that pays our way with the human, and he has always spoken for us to the governments. He could go into a deep sleep, and sometimes get answers for us, but no more than that." Sunstreaker paid close attention.

Ratchet looked out to watch the sparklings and Poppy in the courtyard, Jolt watching nearby. "Then one of us came back with material he found on a meteor. It was the same material the Cube was made from. Sam found a way in those memories to build a prototype that could download information from the Cube into the prototype. He was obsessed with the project. Optimus and I did what we could to slow him, because we were afraid that the attempt at the download would kill or drive him insane. It did not. He was suffering from losing Mikaela, who was not only his wife, but closer to him than you were to Sideswipe, and somehow beginning the download eased that suffering." There was laughter from Poppy and Jolt, as one of the sparklings bounced the ball off of another's head.

Ratchet went on, "Somehow the Decepticons found out about the project, and put in a pretender-a bot whose alt mode is a human form. We got suspicious, and brought the prototype here. The pretender was driven out of the research, and did not know we had taken it. So one day, when Sam went back to speak to the researcher again, we got attacked here and at the energon plants. We were pinned down. In the town, Bumblebee, Sam, and his grandson Oscar put up a good fight. They off-lined Barricade permanently, melted Starscream's foot into the pavement , and off-lined the pretender, but Megatron showed after the humans exhausted their weapons and Bumblebee was already injured. Megatron intended to take Sam and the prototype, and kill him near it, forcing it to transfer and create a new Cube. Finding out it was on the base, which Megatron did not have enough troops to break into, he took Sam instead. We could not find him for weeks going into months."

" Barricade, Starscream, and Megatron, plus a pretender would have been tough to fight together," Sunstreaker admitted. "Megatron called Sam 'pet,' and I wondered why. Did they break him?"

"Yes, in three days," Ratchet admitted, "which was a day longer than we expected him to last. That was how we found out Fixer was still alive." Sunstreaker growled. "They did not do permanent physical damage. But to Megatron he was a prize, and to Fixer he was a pet, and they treated him accordingly. It did not matter that the All-Spark manifested in him to heal him and to make the sparklings. Sam told Optimus and no one else how the sparklings were made. I know it had something to do with Fixer's research, and that it almost killed Sam. And Sam knew they were hunting the prototype, and that they would kill him if they found it. "

Sideswipe appeared in the middle of the story. "Sam started doing things he'd never been able to do before after he got back from the Decepticon base," the silver bot confirmed. "After we got Starscream down, one of the troops was after Ronnie, and none of us were close enough to reach him. There was one hell of a big lightning blast, and that trooper was fried. I think Sam pulled the lightning down on him. Then he healed Optimus in front of all of us, Autobots and Decepticons alike. But every time he does stuff like that, he's hurt. He was flat on the ground after calling that lightning, and he couldn't move for a night after he took care of Optimus. I always wondered what they did to him. He used to need Bumblebee to guard him all the time, and now we rotate it because he almost never leaves the base anymore."

"I think Poppy's right about the meadow," Ratchet commented. "When we rescued him, Sam told Optimus that he would not ever go back, that he would die first, and he meant that. He has been extremely cautious for the last year. But that is Sam's choice and it always has been. We protect him, but he is our ally and not our possession. We can't tell him when to come and go."

"And I promise you, brother, that he will absolutely tell you off if you forget that," Sideswipe added. The conversation moved to a discussion of alt forms. Sam came in while they were arguing over different choices. The twins wanted to match, and they had at least narrowed the choices down to three, but from there they could not agree. Not yet noticed, Sam watched Sunstreaker closely. In download for over two hours, when the human Cube woke, he found new information . He saw Poppy's handbag in its usual place heard her shout to one of the sparklings. While the alt mode discussion got a little heated, he slid over to the bag. The phone was activated . He texted Ratchet, who sent a response. Sam texted again, nodded at something he saw, and looked up at the medic.

"Done?" the medic said aloud. "I wondered if you'd just gone to sleep." He came around the table, putting himself closer to Sunstreaker. "Which reminds me, I thought you promised me you would limit the healing until I asked for help."

That broke the argument off. The twins looked over at Sam and Ratchet. "I promised unless the bot was close to a permanent offline," Sam said firmly. "Sunstreaker's spark was wavering." Sam could see this news disturbed Sideswipe and startled Sunstreaker. "I see Poppy brought me my phone."

"What happened to the other one?" Sideswipe asked.

"Sunstreaker stepped on it." Sam said, moving toward the bot in question.

"You turned it into a drone first," Sunstreaker protested, annoyed. Looking up, the new bot saw Ratchet and his brother look at Sunstreaker and then at Sam. There was a moment of charged silence.

"Sam turned it into a drone," Ratchet said with an air of careful control. "Just when were you going to mention that little fact, Sam?"

"Eventually," Sam admitted. "I've never done it before. I heard Megatron in jet form, right after I finished the healing, and I panicked. "

"And what else happened? Dr. Anderson said your nerves were worse than usual," Ratchet prodded. None of them saw Poppy come in, flushed from running.

"We reinforced the shield," Sam said. "When I saw Megatron aiming his cannon at the shield, and knew he was going to shoot, the presence poured power into the generator. The shield held," he added defensively.

"Is that why you screamed?" Sideswipe asked. Sam nodded. "The shot bounced off and hit Megatron," the bot told Ratchet. "Did quite a bit of damage, too."

"Daddy?" Poppy said, coming further in the door. Sunstreaker reacted immediately, starting to pull a sword. Poppy jumped aside and threw. There was a "plink" and Sunstreaker froze. Sideswipe grabbed his arm, shoving back the sword, while Ratchet grabbed the other arm.

"Good move, sweetie. Go tell Jolt to keep the sparklings back," Sam told her. She turned and ran as Sunstreaker recovered, cursing and struggling. Sam stepped up and placed hands on Sunstreaker. His hands glowed just slightly. Sunstreaker stiffened, held in stasis; then the other two bots stiffened as well. Sam let go and stepped back to lean against the table. The bots moved, a little awkwardly at first. Sideswipe and Ratchet let Sunstreaker go.

"You said you'd do a removal of the virus on Sunstreaker," Ratchet said, "but I got something." The medic was doing something internally. From the look, the twins were as well. "Oh," Ratchet said, a little weakly. "That's – thanks, Sam. "

"What was that?" Sunstreaker demanded. "I've never attacked anything like that before! I could have killed her!" Sam understood; that was Decepticon behavior. While Sam could see the arrogance rising in Sunstreaker, he knew that like all Autobots, he valued life.

"You didn't," Sam said. "Ratchet, was I right?" The medic nodded. "You had a virus when we fixed you before," the human Cube went on. "Instead of purging it, the presence deactivated it. Just now I got the way to reverse it, when I was downloading. I didn't understand a lot of it," he admitted, "and I know it's the first time I've ever tried that, but it seemed a lot like doing the fixing, and it didn't hurt nearly as much!"

"Since it involved information instead of power," Ratchet guessed, finished with the internal look. "Sunstreaker, you had a virus that programmed you to see humans as threats. When it activated, and we grabbed you, it started to transfer to us. When Sam downloaded the program to stop it, that program came to Sideswipe and I as well. Not only that, but we can transfer the fix to other bots now, all of us. The program adapts for prevention if the bot doesn't have an active virus."

"Thought it would," Sam said wearily. He started to move to the door. Ratchet slid a foot in front of him and pointed to the bed. "Poppy's going to have half the base in here in a moment, Ratchet!"

"Only me," Optimus said from the door. Poppy was on his shoulder, and the sparklings were behind him, clicking to each other. "Go back to Jolt," Optimus told them firmly, "Sam will see you later." Complaining, they obeyed. "I take it the situation has resolved?" At agreements from all beings in the room, Optimus put Poppy down and waited for her to reach Sam before the Prime came into the room. "I believe that I am entitled to a report." He held a hand out to Sam and Poppy, and placed them on the table. Sam talked, with Ratchet, Sideswipe, and Sunstreaker speaking up as needed.

"So the virus transmitted by touch when activated," Optimus said in a grim voice. "This is a vicious weapon indeed. Ratchet, this fix needs to be passed to all bots as soon as possible. Can you do so?" Ratchet responded by holding out his hand. Optimus stretched to meet it, and was still, as the others had been. "I see. Sam, we owe you thanks once again. We will see that the fix is delivered. I believe you were ordered to rest?"

"Right," Poppy said. "Come on, Daddy." Sunstreaker stepped forward and held out a hand to each of them. Sam did not hesitate, and after a moment Poppy stepped forward as well. Sunstreaker placed them on the floor. The humans left, Sam moving somewhat slowly. Soon after, Ratchet vaccinated both Jolt and the sparklings. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker went out to pass the vaccination on to leaders, who passed it on to their chain of command. Jolt took the delighted sparklings to do the same. Optimus spoke quietly to Ratchet after the twins left.

"The meld is advancing," Optimus said.

"I know," the medic said. "The question is, what is it doing to Sam?"

There were times when Sam desperately needed to walk and think. Unfortunately, the only place he got privacy was his add-on, and there was no room to walk there. From the time he left college, Sam only needed four hours of sleep a night. He tended now to sleep early, get up in the dark morning, and get things done when most other people slept. Ironhide arranged a daily guard. Sam kept the bot informed of his whereabouts, and the bot acted as his vehicle for the day, and his guard if he went off-base. The bot arranged an escort if they went off base. However, during the day the bots tended to shadow him if he was not actually in a building or at the add-on. Once they left him at the add-on, their duty ended.

So at night, Sam could slip out the back door and walk around the huge building in the dark, soaking in the cool air and the quiet, and let his mind roam. At this moment, however, he wondered how much Optimus kept from him about the new bot. He suspected there was quite a bit.

The Autobots and Decepticons scattered across space after the All-Spark disappeared. The numbers here grew steadily, but Sam suspected that the highest percentage remained in space. He believed Megatron's main base was in space. The troops that guarded him and comprised the front lines came from the Fallen's hatchlings, brought out when Megatron stole enough energon. Sam wondered how many were left after sixty years. Breaker was typical of them, stupid, impulsive, and fond of fighting. Sam believed that Megatron wanted sparklings with intelligence to raise as personal followers, replacing the ones like Barricade that he kept losing. 

But Sam also suspected that pockets of neutrals existed, bots tired of fighting who hid in space to stay out of the war. He wondered if Sunstreaker stayed with them. Neutrasl he met on Earth tended to be paranoid, and like Sunstreaker, they believed that anything given freely involved obligation. Energon remained scarce, so the resources of neutral stayed stretched. Sam knew that Decepticons gave any unallied bot two choices- join or be killed. He heard something about a virus that converted bots from Autobots to Decepticons, and wondered if they had just encountered it again. They could vaccinate their own, but for their own safety, he felt that the neutrals should at least be warned and offered the chance to get it. After all, there was no cost.

That led to the other concern. The presence asserted itself a lot more now. Once Sam got the information in bits and pieces during deep sleep or deliberate trance, but now he got it in downloads. Decades ago, when Barricade got Sam, it took a beating that almost killed him and certain knowledge of imminent death to bring the presence out to defend him, and he passed out before it came through. Now the presence sensed a need, like a healing or the need to reinforce the shield, and sometimes provide a solution.

I need to talk to Optimus about all this, he decided. I need to know if they could communicate through the Cube before. I know the Prime told me I was a lot easier to communicate with, but now I wonder. The Cube certainly responded to Bumblebee, when it shrank into the small box from the huge square. God,I was so young then and so very naïve… He turned the corner and leaned back against the wall, looking blindly at the sky above his head and seeing it not at all. He knew now that the All-Spark transformed itself into him then, and lay dormant until he found the shard of the original Cube in his clothes. Touching the shard activated the All-spark in his brain. At that time it came close to driving him insane, trying to communicate, and literally driving him to his death. Yes, the Dynasty revived him, and he in turn revived Optimus. From then on he accepted he was part of them now, and the craziness stopped for a while.

Sam believed that his own organic sentience enabled the presence to sense the world through Sam. He knew that the presence could have jumped from him to the prototype and let him die. At the time, he did not care; that meant he would have joined Mikaela that much sooner. He began to walk again, slowly, remembering Mikaela. The teenage who shot Frenzy with a nail gun and hot-wired a tow truck to pull Bumblebee, legless, out of danger, only to drive them both back to save the soldiers who would lead NEST later; the young woman who refused to say 'I love you' first, only to scream it at his dead body, and have him miraculously wake to say it back; the lover who worked with him to make treaties for the Autobots; the wife who held their first baby for the Autobots to see; and the lifetime partner who fought her cancer grimly to stay by him, knowing that sometimes she was sometimes the only thing keeping him anchored to the human world. He remembered their last night.

"What's it like to die, Sam?"

"It was quick. Like everything just-stopped. It was peaceful, no noise, no pain, just-being there in the dark. Then everything lit up, and the Dynasty spoke to me, all of them leaning over me, and telling me the Matrix of Leadership had to be earned and we had earned it, and to put the Matrix in Optimus' Spark. Then I woke up and you were screaming you loved me and crying on my dirty shirt. It was worth hurting like hell to hear you say it first, even if I had to die for it."

"It was such a silly game we played. I was afraid you'd lose interest if I said it."

"I was afraid I'd chase you away."

"I don't want to leave you, Sam, but I hurt so much."

"I'll be all right."

"I'll wait in the dark for you. Until you're ready. " She was having trouble saying the words, her breathing labored. "Don't hurry. Be there for the kids. "

"I know you'll be there for me. I'll be all right. I love you."

"You said it first this time. I love you." Silence for a time. Then, "Sam? I'm so glad I got in the car- with-you."

Then watching, dry-eyed because he was cried out, as the children clung to each other and to him and wept, as the laser burst out from the Autobots- he was pretty sure it was Ratchet, who worked with her for decades- and burn the casket and its burden to ashes that blew into the air and settled into the grass of the meadow, letting the cycle of life and death begin again.

God, he still missed her. Not desperately, not with the aching void that haunted him before, but with a sad pang. She would wait for him as long as necessary, and when it was his time, he would go to her. The thought comforted him.

Then he heard clicking Cybertronian, and looked around. The twins stood down the street, talking, and he listened as he watched them. In the dim light, the colors shone bright, silver and gold.

"You know it must be the twin bond thing again," Sideswipe argued. "Why else would we be targets? "

"Megatron didn't say you, though," Sunstreaker said, and Sam could tell he was troubled. "He said I was one target and that Sam wasted his strength healing me, that I couldn't stand against him, and something about Jazz. Then that I was special but nothing without my twin, but Sam could make more sparklings if his plans worked out. Sam said he would never do it."

"Remember making the sparklings almost killed him," Sideswipe reminded his brother.

"Yeah, but Megatron said then that Sam could hear them screaming, and he couldn't stand it, and that he wouldn't be able to hold out this time either. What did he mean? And what happened to Jazz?"

"We'll have to ask Sam, like Optimus said, and hope he'll tell us," Sideswipe said, troubled in his turn. "Jazz died in the first battle, at Mission City. Megatron killed him. That's all I know. But Sam doesn't talk much about what happened when he was being held."

"Blame him?" Sunstreaker said bitterly. "I fought and fought after you left with the others, and when I got away, I never wanted to fight again. Until Sam fixed me, I forgot what it was like to be whole. And not even that would have brought me if I knew I had that filth in me! I would have infected all of you in the meadow as soon as you found me if Sam hadn't found me first." The gold bot snorted. "And I wondered why he asked me not to take him from his friends!"

"I know all that," Sideswipe said steadily. "But now we have a fix, Sunny! It's okay now, it's better now. Prime told you that, and so did Ratchet." Sideswipe pulled Sunstreaker back to look at him, and as he did, he saw Sam.

"Hi, Sam," he said in English, and Sunstreaker turned. "What are you doing out here?"

Sam raised his eyebrows. "Now just where did you get the idea I couldn't take a walk if I felt like it?" he asked, his voice just a little cold. "My legs work just fine, last time I looked." The twins looked a little sheepish, as well they might. "Walking helps me think sometimes," he added, "so don't let me interrupt your discussion." He turned to walk off, wondering if they would pull him back or join him. He was fairly sure his solitary walk was over.

Sure enough, Sunstreaker said, "Sam, I-we-have some questions. Optimus said it was up to you to decide if you wanted to tell us." Sam turned, and considered.

"Not on the street," he said. "Prefer the courtyard by my add-on or the balcony? Both should be private right now."


	3. Outbreak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Painful tales and difficult decisions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Transformers.

The twins chose the balcony. They wanted to see Sam as they talked, and chairs lined the walls if Sam needed to rest. If the human Cube tired out because they talked all night, Poppy, Ratchet, and Bumblebee would have something to say about it. Considering the situation, Sideswipe would prefer a lecture from Ratchet or an argument with Bumblebee. Poppy got downright nasty sometimes.

They waited for him to climb the stairs and find a chair. Instead, Sam leaned against the rail, and said softly, "Let me make sure I understand. You have questions, and Optimus told you to ask me. Right?" They nodded. "What about?"

Sunstreaker said, "I told Optimus what Megatron said at the meadow, and asked what it meant, but the Prime told me to ask you, and you would decide whether to tell me."

Sam looked down, considering. When he looked up, his face held a strained look. Alarmed, Sideswipe said, "Sam, are you okay?"

Sam took a deep breath. "I'm about to tell you something I've only told Optimus. I want you to keep it quiet, all right? I'm only telling you because I think you need to know." They exchanged looks, and then agreed. "First off, I'm going to repeat what Megatron said- that you were one of its targets, that you could not stand against Megatron, that you were special though nothing without your twin and to remember Jazz, that if its plans worked out I could make more sparklings and that I would not be able to hold out against the screaming. That covers most of it?" Sunstreaker nodded. "Okay, Jazz was killed in the battle of Mission City, when Megatron tore Jazz in half without any effort at all."

"Megatron was trying to get you to lower the shield," Sunstreaker said bluntly. "I remember he said that if you did some of your friends would survive."

"If you hadn't bounced that shot back at it, someone might have died," Sideswipe agreed, "but we'd be worse off if that glitch got his hands on you or the sparklings."

"I know that." Then Sam braced himself. "Sideswipe, you remember how we found Skids and Mudflap, a few years ago?" Sam remembered how Minnie cried, not hardened to battle losses as most of them were.

Sideswipe looked grim. "You bet I do." The silver bot took a moment to calm himself. "They were both twisted to pieces. Their spark chambers were gone."

"Do you remember the video when Starscream threw Wheelie at me?" Sideswipe growled. "I'd like Sunstreaker to see that." Sideswipe showed the hologram. "See where I'm going?"

Sideswipe shook its head, puzzled. New to the video, Sunstreaker said slowly, "Wheelie's spark chamber was ripped out." The golden bot put hands over his own spark. Sam nodded.

"Now, how much do you know about Fixer?"

This time both bots hissed. "Fixer was one of the researchers working on us," Sunstreaker said. "He came up with the ideas. He was exiled from Cybertron without weapons and they took away the ability to scan an alt form. Fixer liked playing with processors. Some of the others- they got to where they would do anything he said, because he twisted them until they couldn't think for themselves. He warped everything he got hold of. " Hate flashed in those blue orbits. "I got in some damage on him."

"Good," said Sam and Sideswipe in unison. Sideswipe went on, "Optimus made sure he would never twist anything again, and showed me the video. I wanted to go after him myself, but I was sent to help rescue you, Sam. We didn't know about the sparklings, then. Or where they came from." Sam heard the question in the statement, and looked away a moment.

"Fixer was my keeper," Sam told them. "He liked keeping human pets and studying them, like a hobby. Megatron let him because he needed someone who could keep me if they ever got me. The place they took over actually had a recluse living there, an old man almost totally blind and addicted to pain pills. He knew how to stock up for months. They convinced Victor they were taking care of him, and he told them how to make sure everything was in good order and how much food was needed for someone to live there a long time. Fixer tried the same mind games on me, but I knew who was running the questioning, and it wasn't Megatron."

"Did they kill him when they knew you were coming?" Sunstreaker asked.

"He was already dead. He figured out he was a pet to Fixer, and took too many pills one night. But that was the second reason for the base. I knew there was something else going on. About once a day Fixer would take me out of the room they kept me in and take me with him to patrol the inside of the base, check on everything. When we would pass the research lab, I could feel something wrong, but I didn't know what. Then one morning I kept thinking I was hearing something screaming. That was the day Starscream brought Wheelie. When I got pulled back into the building, I was upset, and Fixer forced me back to the exam table and made me drink something that put me to sleep. When I woke up, I knew what happened to Wheelie, and to Skids and Mudflap." He could see that the twins guessed. They watched him hanging on his words. "Megatron showed up about the time I woke up. He got my version of what happened, and sent me to the room. He and Fixer left for the lab, because since being questioned, I did what I was told. This time, I followed them and got into the lab." Sam closed his eyes and leaned on the rail, his head bent, remembering.

"You said something about screaming," Sunstreaker said, quietly. Sam could hear the dread in his voice. "What was screaming?"

"The sparks," Sam answered in a low, pained voice. "Wheelie's, really, because he was starting to waver. The twins'-that was the wrongness I felt, was the twins' sparks being held in some kind of stasis. Fixer was trying to find a way to meld them into new frames, but since the sparks were taken the way they were, it wouldn't work. There's no way of knowing how many sparks were lost with his research. The sparks were in tanks, with the sparkling frames. The twins survived because Fixer kept them together. That was how the twin bond made a difference." Sam sighed and looked up at the two bots, one gold and one silver, which looked at him with sorrow and understanding.

"What did you do, Sam?" Sideswipe asked.

"I had to choose," he said. "To let them go, or remake them. The presence let me decide because of the risk. And so I chose that they be remade, instead of letting them go back to being random energy. I didn't really understand where sparks go when you guys die, but they do go somewhere, like the human souls normally do. Wheelie's and the Twins' sparks were damaged somehow. They couldn't go on. So I put my hands on the tanks, and it did whatever needed to be done. I don't remember anything but the pain. When I woke up, I was on the exam table, and there were three sparklings. I spent a lot of time with them. There is nothing of the original personalities left. The presence cleared it all and started the sparks from the beginning. If it hadn't they probably would have gone insane as soon as they were awakened." He sighed. "Do you see why I'm asking you to keep quiet? "

"Yes," Sunstreaker said. "But we needed to know."

Sam nodded. "I never want to have to make that choice again," he said, sounding tired. Thinking about the time he spent as the prisoner/pet of the Decepticons always made him feel tired. Then he remembered his own question, and looked up at Sunstreaker. "Which reminds me, when you first spoke to me you said Starscream attacked you as soon as you landed?" Sunstreaker nodded. "And you said you had a mission. What was that?"

"I don't remember that," Sunstreaker said. "I heard a lot of rumors, and one was that Sideswipe was here. I came to find out."

Sam nodded as if he accepted the reason, and said he needed to go. He heard the twins walking out as he headed for his add-on and a morning shower before he went to the office. He was sure that Sunstreaker came looking for his brother, but he was missing something. Before he began his day's work, he sent an e-mail to Optimus, asking for a meeting, and got the time that afternoon. Minnie saw him look at his phone and said, "You look worried. Do you think the Australian government is trying something odd?"

"Sure they are. There isn't a government yet that hasn't tried to get energon to make some kind of new weapon. That's why we word the contracts so carefully. India bought a bunch of batteries and milked the energon out to experiment with. "

Minnie whistled. "I know that had to cost a fortune." Since the energon batteries lasted for decades, there was always a demand. An energon battery powered the shields over the plants and the meadow. The sale of energon batteries produced over a third of the company's profit. 

"Yeah. Then they tested the weapon they made out of it. It made a crater the size of this building when it blew up, and killed about a hundred and fifty people. That's why at least three people review the agreements now before they're signed." He stretched. "What we can do is ask, again and again and again, what they need the power for. If what they need is a way of powering something that isn't a weapon, then we'll see if there's a way to do it. It'll cost them, but usually we can manage something. They just have to tell us." Sam remembered how long it took for an auto maker to finally ask. The company's profit doubled the year cars began using solar storage batteries.

When Sam was in college, he searched the Cube memories for a way to make energon besides killing a sun. He discovered that the raw material could be made from organic waste. While the company's profit-large enough to pay for a war- came in the most part from the sale of cheaper and greener solar storage batteries, other inventions Sam created from Cube memories sold well. The most recent was an enhanced lie detector, which was being field-tested by an independent company. The Decepticons tested the machine thoroughly when they 'questioned' Sam-with the assistance of electric shock and lack of sleep over three days. Sam wrote a careful, detailed report on how the machine worked and flatly refused to discuss the matter again.

"Well, another day," Minnie said. "A productive one, I have to say," she added, looking at the desk. The in box was empty. "Want to come with me to the garage tonight? The twins are going to decide on an alt form. Blue and I have some ideas."

"I've got a meeting with Optimus tonight after dinner. Maybe after that." Optimus usually talked to Sam while taking a drive in his alt form or at the meadow where Optimus felt safe relaxing in privacy.

Sideswipe noticed that Sunstreaker seemed a little preoccupied most of the day. The silver bot decided early on that his twin worried over what Sam told them, and left the matter alone. Sideswipe dislikedhearing that the two of them were once again targets for spark research. Still, the primary researcher was now permanently off-lined in no uncertain terms, and the Decepticons were seriously weakened. Sunstreaker would figure that out soon enough and relax.

Sunstreaker could tell his twin worried. He felt grateful that Sideswipe gave him space. He could not decide if he felt humiliated because a human essentially rescued him twice, or awed because the All-spark touched him twice. As he and Sideswipe met with other bots to pass on the 'vaccine,' the golden bot absorbed that the others accepted the transfer immediately because Sam provided it. At the same time they took the gift pretty much for granted. Sam was one of them and had been since their arrival, as important and as familiar as the Prime.

When Sunstreaker finally got word on the location of his twin, he was in space, in an area of loosely associated Cybertronians who shared a station they built. Consisting of both former Autobots and Decepticons as well as a very few who never joined either side, they avoided the war in a safe haven. Most were fiercely independent. Most of the former Decepticons consisted of deserter forced into the war against their will. Resources were scarce. Sunstreaker knew that a lot of bots came to Earth following the Prime's transmissions. To get to Earth in one piece, Sunstreaker needed repairs, and the group agreed to help on the condition that the golden bot research the rumors they were getting and report back. Sunstreaker saw no problem with that request. After all, there was no way the rumors could be true. The bots at the station kept an eye on the human space explorations, and did not think much of the species. After meeting Sam and getting the confirmation of the rumors so quickly, Sunstreaker sent the information dump. Confirming the information could only bring more of the group to join. Now Sunstreaker knew that every arrival created a target for the Decepticons, and he worried that some idiot former Decepticon with the neutrals might try to get hold of Sam for his own reasons.

Before Ratchet's lecture, Sunstreaker assumed that Optimus protected and cared for Sam somewhat like the sparklings, who were too young to make their own choices and to defend themselves. After all, the bots could not let a fragile human holding the All-Spark run around like any other human, could they? He did not understand until last night that Sam was an adult sentient being who could and did make his own decisions, and who lived an independent human life. Their human Cube already chafed at the restrictions he lived under.

In the end, Sunstreaker told his twin what was bothering him when they were on their way to the energon plant to meet Bluestreak and Minnie to discuss possible alt forms.

"Did you include that in your report?" Sideswipe asked.

"Well, yes," Sunstreaker said.

"Then let the Prime deal with it," the silver bot told him. "Neutrals around here survive by keeping their helms down. They don't trust us, but they trust the Decepticons less. Let's hope that Minnie and Bluestreak have some good ideas instead. And brace your sound receptors. Both of them never stop talking. "

Optimus elected to drive Sam to the meadow. Once in the shield, Sam took a deep breath and walked down to the pond. Optimus followed, almost as content as his human friend. When Optimus left word of a meeting with Sam in the meadow, everyone on the base knew to stay away. The two of them kept quiet that they spent as much time looking at clouds or stars as in serious discussion. They could relax here without interruption in any but the worst emergencies. Unfortunately, tonight they needed to have a serious discussion. "You wanted to talk," the Prime prodded reluctantly.

"I spoke to Sunstreaker and Sideswipe last night," Sam said. "What did the neutrals want from him? And where did that virus come from?"

Optimus lowered himself to the ground near the patio; Sam sat down in one of the chairs. "You're guessing."

"The Decepticons would not have helped and the Autobots would have sent word Sunstreaker was coming. And the neutrals don't do anything for free. At the same time, they don't have any reason to load an Autobot with a virus." Sam let his gaze go to the water and back to Optimus. "So?"

"They wanted information, all of which our newcomer got within moments of meeting you. At the area of space Sunstreaker took refuge in, the news they get is mostly in the form of rumors, and they wanted the truth. They wanted to know about the All-spark and the sparklings. " Sam considered. He stood up and walked to the pond, before coming back to Optimus and sitting on his leg.

"So now they know the All-Spark is housed in a human. Bet they loved that news, but I don't see where it makes a difference to us here. Maybe a few more might decide to look into joining us. " Then he stopped a moment. "Crap. That's it, what I was missing. Well, it ties in with the other matter I wanted to talk about, anyway."

"And what is that, Sam?"

"I'm willing to bet that Starscream attacked Sunstreaker to give him that virus. Possible?" Optimus nodded. "Ratchet said the virus spread to him and to Sideswipe as soon as they grabbed Sunstreaker. Fortunately the cure did as well. Optimus, we need to spread the vaccine to the neutrals, for our own safety. I think it's a safe bet that the Decepticons are trying to spread the virus. When Megatron said that Sunstreaker was one of its targets, I assumed that Sideswipe was the other one, but now I wonder. What if the other target was a neutral that could spread the virus for them? "

Optimus considered, weighing the possibility. "The difficulty is in the neutrals accepting what we offer. They do not trust us."

"They trust us to lead the Decepticons to them," Sam corrected his metal friend ruefully, remembering a cranky and obnoxious example. "At the same time, a lot of them do hang around humans in one way or another," mostly for entertainment, Sam thought, "and if I remember correctly, some of them owe us favors. And a lot of them have e-mail, and at least one has a blog." It alternately amused and amazed Sam how the bots just absolutely loved the Internet. A lot of bots made Internet friends, despite a host of rules forbidding that kind of contact. Sam remembered that Fixer was one, before Optimus reduced him to assorted pieces. "Minnie and I check in with it every once in a while."

"Some of our newer recruits still have connections with some of the neutrals," Optimus noted thoughtfully. "Why do you think our safety is threatened?"

"Humans have dealt with disease for a long time, "Sam said. "Remember that bad flu epidemic we had about twelve years ago, when thousands of people died in Brazil and the government vaccinated the children in the schools, and we lined up everyone in the company to get shots, too?" Optimus remembered. "When a disease is deadly, the best bet is prevention."

"A lot of the neutrals are not going to listen, Sam," Optimus warned him.

"Not until we have to kill the first one to go berserk. " Sam's voice sounded bleak. Optimus considered that possibility and Sam could sense the attitude change. "Maybe then we'll get most of the rest." They looked at each other. Sam knew Optimus was doubtful. "We need to do this, Optimus. I know it. Not because I'm an idealistic fool," Sam was well aware of his reputation outside the base, "but you know the outside world can't tell a diseased neutral from a Decepticon."

"And in the field, Sam, I am afraid it won't matter."

"If we only get a fraction, that's the fraction NEST won't have to fight. It's going to be nasty enough, without getting as many as we can out of the way."

Optimus recognized that the All-Spark was driving Sam again. "We will try."

Then Optimus lay back and they looked for constellations. After all, they seldom got quiet time alone.

Sam made the message simple. "Pass it on," he said. "The All-Spark gave the cure to me, to give to you. Pass it on, and if anyone asks the price, tell them the same thing." A lot of newer Autobots had already spread the vaccine to friends. In a week Sam estimated they had reached about a tenth of the neutrals he knew of.

The first berserk erupted in Tokyo and killed fifteen people before the local NEST got there. He fought until he died, even when they shot off two limbs. Afterwards, as Sam predicted, many frightened neutrals asked for the vaccine. Then another berserk blew up in New York City, killing fifty this time. Not a week later, a third exploded in Rome. Sam stepped in and worked long hard hours with Minnie to deal with the diplomatic results. Decepticon attacks began again in remote areas, stretching NEST to the utmost. Sam worried that the Decepticons were gaining the upper hand in the war again. He forced himself to take to time to download daily, which kept him steady. Poppy worked long hours at the hospital due to the rise in casualties. Ronnie stayed on constant battle alert as Ironhide's liaison, and Oscar worked on neutral contact with Bumblebee. Bob lived in the computer lab, keeping the communications running.

Sam came home one day to discover his oldest son Jimmie waiting for him. Hearing about the crisis, Jimmie, a voice actor and reader for audio books, came home to help his family stay sane. He stayed in Poppy's spare room and acted as the communications center. "I can finish my assignment here as easily as I can at home," he explained, "and someone should make sure the rest of you have something to eat and a livable house to come home to." Sam hugged him and accepted gratefully.

Oscar glanced at Bumblebee as they waited by the clearing. It was the fifteenth meeting of the week, and they were both getting tired of dealing with angry or scared neutrals. The first few weeks they made contacts among the neutrals they knew and contacted by e-mail or blog. When the transfer occurred, the bots went into a short stasis. A human went along to guard for that time. For the first few weeks, the assignment was easy.

The third week, Oscar held off two troops until Bumblebee and the ugliest bot he ever saw finished the transfer. Oscar admitted later that Scrub might be ugly, but when he got riled-and when he came out of stasis to a fight, he got seriously riled- the damn thing could fight. Scrub tore one troop to pieces while Bumblebee and Oscar dealt with the other. "Decepticon scum," the neutral snarled. "I survived how many vorns of the damned war to get infected by their filth? I don't think so!" His optic rode on stalks in his regular form, and he rotated one at Oscar. "What did you say the price was?"

"Pass it on," Oscar said promptly. "The more of you who aren't infected, the less we have to deal with. The virus makes you attack humans, and a lot have already died." The last came out bleakly.

"The bots infected don't stop until they're permanently off-lined," Bumblebee added, and he said something else in Cybertronian. Scrub snorted, but did seem to be thinking.

"All right. Makes sense. I hear anything, I'll post it on the damned blog Chatterbox has. And I got some contacts. I'll pass it on to the ones as want it. Leave the mess, I could use some spare parts and I'll get rid of the rest." He waited as they left.

"Did that go better than I thought it would?" Oscar wondered aloud, as Bumblebee bumped down the sorry dirt road. "God, this is the back end of nowhere!"

"Yes and I agree," Bumblebee said. "Primus, but that's better," the scout sighed, getting onto a paved road. "I think Jimmie's monitoring the blog right now, since Sam and Minnie stay so busy." Just then the radio on Oscar's belt started to screech. Oscar grabbed it at the same time Bumblebee took off.

"Oscar, it's Ronnie. We got another berserk. Right now Ironhide's got him pinned in a cave here, but the 'con that infected him is coming back. You two are the closest. Bumblebee has the coordinates. Hurry."

"We're coming," Oscar said, and checked his weapons. He rooted into his bag and pulled out rounds. "How long, Bee?"

"Twenty minutes by the speed limit. Ten at this rate." Seven minutes later Oscar rolled out. He could see the Decepticon, and his uncle. Ironhide fired near a cave mouth, keeping something pinned. Oscar rolled out of Bumblebee. He could see that the Decepticon was one of those that favored construction machines. One of his hands was a wrecking ball. Just as Bumblebee transformed, he jumped back, took at least two hits from Ronnie, and swung. Bumblebee flung himself on Wreaker and they tumbled, just as Ronnie moved.

But he did not move quite fast enough.


	4. Enter the Dinobots

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Transformers, but I wish I did.

The screams drove Oscar to his uncle as fast as he could run, while Bumblebee tumbled with Wrecker. With Ironhide distracted, the bot he kept in the cave charged. Ironhide jumped on him, and desperately began to download, hoping against hope for help in the few seconds they stood in stasis while the cure passed.

Oscar reached Ronnie and found the lower half of his uncle's left leg was a bloody crushed mess. He used every rule in the first aid book on bleeding, and discovered to his relief that they actually worked. The bleeding slowed, though it did not stop. Ronnie's eyes started to glaze. Frantic to keep Ronnie awake, he asked if Ronnie called for help. Ronnie nodded, panting. Shock, Oscar thought in dismay, he's going into shock. He talked, elevated Ronnie's legs, and worked automatically. He glanced up to see Ironhide on top of what looked like a triceratops's head. They stood still. Oscar recognized the stasis that came with the cure download. Then he glanced over to Bumblebee, and discovered that something winged distracted Wreaker while Bumblebee fired on him. The ground shook, and a head about double the size of Oscar's on an impossibly long neck said, "Oh my goodness! This is terrible, so terrible! Have you called for help? What is that bot doing to Slag?"

"Yeah, we called for help," Oscar said to the distressed brontosaurus. "Tell your flying friend not to touch Wrecker if he can help it, he's passing on a virus that makes bots attack humans! Slag got it and attacked my uncle here and Ironhide's passing on the cure, we'll get it to you as soon as one of them can!"

"I'll tell Swoop! And I'll stand over you so nothing hits you, oh but this is so very wicked!"

"Oscar, am I dreaming or is that a brontosaurus that's talking like an old maiden aunt?" Ronnie asked weakly.

"No, you aren't dreaming. There's a pterodactyl helping Bumblebee, and Ironhide's downloading the cure on a triceratops. Looks like they're finished." Ironhide jumped back, ready to fire, and the triceratops was shaking its head.

"Those bastards! I could have attacked one of the kids! Hey, you! Give that download to Sludge while I teach that piece of rust a lesson!" He charged past the humans and the brontosaurus.

"Yes, oh yes, I need that, and Swoop will, and Snarl and Grimlock as well, they're coming now. " Just then Ironhide started downloading. Slag rammed into the back of Wreaker, throwing him to the ground; Bumblebee finally got a shot at his head. Soon afterward, he stopped moving anymore. At the same time Oscar heard the sound of an ambulance. Ironhide and Sludge broke apart. Ironhide and Bumblebee began dragging Wreaker to the cave.

"We will take that, we need the parts," a harsh voice said, and Oscar looked up, and up, and up. There was a tyrannosaurus standing there. Behind him was a stegosaurus. "I wish to talk later."

"Someone will come," Oscar promised, and by the time the ambulance showed, there was no sign of the dinobots or the corpse.

The hostipal rushed Ronnie straight into surgery as fast The sheriff wanted to know how Ronnie got hurt, while some kind of medical person kept coming back to Oscar for more information on Ronnie. The overwhelmed soldier welcomed the noise he was hearing in the hall as something that distracted the idiot official. He was even happier when his grandfather walked in, accompanied by official looking suits.

"Sheriff Blankinship?" one of the suits said. As the pompous sheriff started to get huffy, the suit went on, "I'm Agent Reynolds from the FBI, Special Action section, and we are taking over this investigation as required," and he rattled off some kind of rule while Oscar edged back and around.

"Pops, you don't know how glad I am to see you," he said. Sam smiled and clasped his shoulder, knowing Oscar hated getting a hug in public. "Ronnie-"

"Stabilized, and I brought Isabelle for him," Sam said. He looked grim and imposing in his suit. "The kids are with her folks for a while. Your parents are fine, but Minnie's morning sick-"

"What? Finally?" Having doubts about her ability to have children, Minnie refused to set a wedding date with Jeremy until she got pregnant. "How'd you get here?"

"Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are outside. I tried getting through, and the damn fool over there's been stonewalling everyone. Thankfully Ironhide and Bee got the word out. I had to pull some strings, and agree to some meetings to get past him. I know these guys, "he indicated the suits, "they used to be NEST, and they're going to act as my bodyguards since NEST is stretched so tight." Oscar nodded. "Now, when have you eaten last?" Oscar shrugged. "Head on to the cafeteria and eat. Then go to the surgical waiting room on the third floor and meet Isabelle. Look after her until I text you or I show up. "Oscar headed away, comforted. Everything would be okay now. Pops was here.

After sending his grandson for food and hopefully some quiet, Sam braced himself as Reynolds came over. Blankinship looked furious, but not mad enough to piss off a famous man who could buy the county with his petty cash fund. While almost all of the profit from the company went to NEST and the bots, Sam still owned a percent over and above his salary, and that was enough to make him a very rich man. While Blankinship might have an election coming up and want to cover himself with glory, the sheriff knew he was outmaneuvered. "All right, I'll secure the area-"

"I believe we made it clear that our people will deal with the matter," Sam told him firmly. "We're asking that you cooperate with us, no more, and refer any calls to Mr. Reynolds' office. I would like to check on my son's status now. We don't know yet if they were able to save his leg."

The sheriff said, "Well, we'll hope for the best, Mr. Witwicky. Let us know if we can help any." He left. Sam turned to Reynolds and his partner, who nodded and led the way to the surgical waiting room. They positioned themselves at the doors. Sam headed directly for Isabelle and Oscar. Isabelle was crying.  
Sam put an arm around her shoulders and drew her into a hug.

"Tell me," he said, looking from her to Oscar.

"He's going to live," Oscar said quickly, "that's not the problem. They had to pour blood into him, but he was stable when you left. His leg-"

"It's too crushed," Isabelle said, and sobbed. "They can't save it. They tried, but there's too much damage, they can't repair it. He's in recovery now." Sam closed his eyes, absorbing the news.

"He's alive," he told her. "They can do great things with prosthesis now." A good percentage of the company's workers used artificial limbs. "Let's worry about the rest when we have to." A nurse came in, glancing at the suits uncertainly, and headed for Isabelle. As they walked to Ronnie's room, she explained what to expect. Ronnie looked pale lying in the hospital bed. Isabelle went over immediately. Sam and Oscar gave them a moment before going over.

"Dad," he said, surprised and relieved.

"How are you?" Sam asked. Ronnie considered for a while.

"They told me when I woke up about the leg," Ronnie said. "It could have been worse. I'm alive, thanks to Oscar. He took over, did everything he could. We got so lucky-"He stopped. Oscar looked embarrassed. "The others are okay?"

"They're fine," Sam said. "We had to pry the local law enforcement off Oscar's back. Annabelle's already arranged for a suite at the nearest hotel. I wondered why they attacked here, but Ironhide said there's an orphanage and school near the place you met."

"Yeah?" Oscar said, wondering what that had to do with anything. Ronnie looked like he was trying to figure it out, too.

"Think, guys. So far all the berserks have been in big cities, highly populated areas. This time the bots would have attacked kids at a school. There's a pattern." They nodded, looking horrified.

"Making us run to put out fires, and if they get caught, we're the ones best known," Ronnie said, "and the 'cons have a lot of their work done for them." Sam nodded.

"So when you acted, you saved a bunch of kids," Sam told them. "Maybe a school full." He saw their faces lighten a little. One of the suits cleared his throat. Sam went over and spoke, then returned. "I've got a meeting. I'll get hold of everyone as soon as I know more. Oscar, go down and talk to Sideswipe and Sunstreaker so they can pass the word to everyone else. "He walked over and gave Ronnie a hug. "You both did fine, and I'm proud of you."

Four hours later he came back, this time dressing in more casual clothes. Ronnie slept, and Isabelle looked tired and worn. Oscar was drooping. They agreed on a rotation, and Sam sent both of them for showers and rest. "I already ate at the meeting, and grabbed a shower on the way here," he explained as he walked them to the door.

He checked on Ronnie, and pulled out his laptop to make notes and send e-mails, thanking all the deities he knew that the hospital had wireless. The meeting was grim but went better than he expected. He had two more in the morning, by which time he expected Ronnie to be able to transfer to the base infirmary. He glanced over at Ronnie occasionally as he finished his notes and began to deal with his endless e-mail.  
He was almost finished when Ronnie stirred. He put up the computer. Ronnie looked around uncertainly. "Hey, big guy," Sam said. "Hurting much?"

"My leg hurts," Ronnie said. "How can it hurt when it's not there?" Sam recognized meltdown, and reached. Ronnie sobbed on his shoulder, able to break down with his father as he could not with his wife or his nephew. Sam said nothing, simply being there until his son calmed and was able to lay back. He fetched a warm washcloth and let Ronnie wipe his face. Soon after a nurse came in and did things, and offered medicine. Ronnie started to refuse, but Sam bent a stern eye at him and he accepted instead. When the nurse left, he said," You always refuse it."

"I'm a special case, and you know it," Sam said. "Besides, you know Jeremy and Sheena make me take it anyway, for the first hour or so. By the way, I asked and if you don't want what's on the dinner tray, you can have something else. No diet restriction." Ronnie nodded. The nurse put the medicine in his IV, and his eyes began to glaze. Sam talked on light topics, about Minnie's attacks of morning sickness and the plans Poppy was making already for the celebration party, about how the sparklings were getting into the obstacle course with him in the mornings if Ironhide did not catch them first and it was driving both he and Ironhide crazy, while everyone else thought it was funny. Isabelle appeared. Sam nodded and said good-bye before heading out. Tonight he had a meeting, but not with humans.

Ironhide waited with Bumblebee and Oscar. The twinsremained until the meeting was over in case Isabelle and Ronnie needed help. Then they would head back to the base. Sam climbed in Bumblebee as Oscar did with Ironhide. He talked to his former full-time guardian as they rode. Bumblebee remained Sam's best friend, human or otherwise, and even though the yellow flar was no longer his guardian, they still rode and talked frequently. Bumblebee described the events again, with Ironhide connected and adding to the story when needed. "So these guys took on dinosaur alts," Sam marveled. "How long ago?"

"Quite some time ago, from what they tell us. They were dodging Decepticons, and crashed into an old museum that had animatronics of these creatures, so they grabbed the alts. Then they discovered they were stuck with them. Somehow they lost the ability to transform at all. They discovered that they can hide by pretending to be statues, and that children like them. They like to watch kids, so that works out for them. The leader is Grimlock, the tyrannosaurus. "Sam shifted in his seat. He could see Ironhide behind him. While the bots were antsy about Sam leaving the base, they also knew that he needed to be near Ronnie and he was needed to clean up the mess. As several agencies wanted the chance to deal with Sam directly, they jumped at the chance to help out. Optimus helped organize the teams, recognizing not only the need for the father to be there for his son, but the All-Spark driving Sam again. For some reason, this mission was important. The deal was that two bots escort Sam at all times outside of a building, and that inside a building, there be at least two trained bodyguards with him at all times. Sam accepted the terms without complaint.

The moon rode the clouds, making interesting patterns of shadows on the ground. They stopped to speak to the NEST soldiers working on the perimeter, then drove in. Sam got out, and both the bots transformed. Soon after, other shadows appeared. "Come this way," they said, and moved. Bumblebee put Sam on his shoulder, and all of them went into a clearing with a streetlamp. In the better light, the dinobots still looked formidable, but Sam was too used to dealing with big bots to be intimidated.

"I'm Sam Witwicky. Oscar said you wanted to talk." Bumblebee put Sam down and he walked forward a few feet, facing the neutrals directly.

The dinobots focused on him. Sam waited patiently. Beings who live for centuries are seldom in a hurry unless threatened, and these were in their home territory. The human Cube could tell they were communing on a private channel. "We can feel your power," Grimlock said. Sam nodded.

"We've stayed out of this war," Swoop butted in. "We came here to avoid being forced into the Fallen's army. The fighting was senseless and never ending. We didn't agree with either side." Ironhide and Bumblebee hissed despite themselves. Sam held up a hand, and they backed down.

"For years we stayed here, enjoyed watching the humans, especially the children. Now the 'Cons want to make us their pawns with this virus. They would have managed," Snarl said. Sam could see why he chose his designation; the voice was harsh.

"I would have killed any human that showed up in front of me," Slag said, his voice tight. "Children, woman, man, it would not have mattered. I was a youth director on Cybertron. I do not kill if I can help it."

"I do not fight at all," the brontosaur said, in a distressed voice. "But I would have had to stop Slag."

"We owe you," Grimlock said. "What is the price?"

"Pass it on," Sam said promptly.

"We would do that anyway. It is not enough."

"It is. When Slag attacked Wrecker and Sludge stood over the soldiers, you repaid me. The hurt one is my son. The one helping him was my grandson," Sam told them. They considered that, communing again.

"How is the hurt one?" Grimlock asked.

Sam looked down and then up again. "He'll live, but he's lost his leg." At that Sludge made a grieving sound. They communed again.

"Why are you doing this?" Swope demanded. "Why did you create the vaccine in the first place, and why are you passing it to all the neutrals, without price?"

Sam looked up at them. "Because the cost of the virus being spread is higher than ignoring it, to begin with," he said. "Because choices, even bad choices, are the right of every living being. Because the virus solution was given to me to pass on to any bot that needed it." Because, he thought, when you come down to it, sometimes you just have to do the right thing.

They communed again. "Were you given a choice?" Slag asked suddenly. Sam asked what it meant. "With the All-Spark. Were you given a choice?"

Sam considered. "Yes," he answered, remembering Mission City, remembering seeing Megatron loom over Optimus and making his choice. "I didn't know the price then." How could anyone have known that the price was the All-Spark transferring to Sam? "But knowing the price, I would still have done it." The answer seemed to satisfy them. They communed again.

"We will work with you until this matter is finished," Grimlock said. "Snarl, Slag and I can fight. Sludge is a communications specialist, as good as or better than Soundwave. Swoop is good at analyzing, especially with the Decepticons. "

"How do you think we stayed away from the 'Cons so long?" Swoop asked smugly. "So what do you say to our thanks?"

Sam looked at them. Then suddenly, he glowed. Ironhide and Bumblebee found their minor problems suddenly fixed. "Transform," Sam said, and his voice echoed.

"We can't-" Swoop started, and Grimlock cuffed him lightly. Then he concentrated, and suddenly there was an original bipedal Cybertronian looking at them. The other dinobots transformed as soon as they stopped staring. Sam leaned on Bumblebee's leg for a moment, then straightened and smiled.

"You're welcome," he said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Dinobots are not in character in this fic, but I am too fond of the characters to change them. Sorry if that offends anyone.


	5. Betrayal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for a plot twist

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Transformers except in some very wistful daydreams

First Aid and Optimus arrived the next day to get all of them to the base. The dinobots rode in the trailer while Sam rode in the cab. First Alert held Poppy, and they took Ronnie, Isabelle and Oscar to the base infirmary which had extensive experience in dealing with wounds like Ronnie's. Bumblebee and Ironhide rode point. In the trailer, Swoop talked to Ironhide and Prowl through a link Sludge provided. Sludge found that satellite transmissions got intercepted on a irregular basis, and found a way to encrypt the information. Everyone agreed that the interceptor was Soundwave. Optimus knew the Decepticon communications expert roamed in space; attempts to get to Soundwave never worked.

The cooperation with the neutrals needed serious organization. Sludge and Swoop got with Ironhide, Prowl, and some of the NEST generals, and they hammered out new strategy. Oscar took Ronnie's place as Ironhide's liaison until his uncle recovered. As soon as Ronnie got out of bed, he helped with Sludge's and Swoop's work, doing the computer details and being the human contact. Instead of NEST spreading the cure, the neutrals did, with Sludge coordinating. The word and the cure passed with blinding speed after that. Swoop gathered all the information they had and plotted the most likely target areas. Armed with the plan, Sam worked with the local governments for an early response system. Outbreaks dropped and when they did occur, the precautions minimized casulaties. When Decepticons appeared to spread the virus, the neutrals fought back, forewarned and armed with the vaccine. They cooperated with Sludge and Swoop in reporting information. A month went by, then two, and finally three without an outbreak of the virus. Sludge reported that all known neutrals accepted the virus or left for space. Six months from Sunstreaker's return, the virus was as dead as smallpox, and the neutrals that had not joined the Autobots were more willing to work with them.

Delighted that their daughter was settled, Minnie's adoptive parents arranged a conventional wedding that Minnie and Jeremy endured to make them happy. Jeremy's parents were dead, both killed years ago in a car accident. Poppy arranged the reception, which turned into one of the biggest parties NEST had seen in a while. The bots did not begrudge the humans their obvious pleasure. The recent virus epidemic was over. All the bots watched in one way or another from the garage at the energon plant or on the Autobot section of the base.

"What exactly are the humans celebrating again?" Sunstreaker asked, as the bots watched from a live video feed Sludge and the twins set up at the garage. NEST soldiers and company employees took turns performing. A rock band played at the moment, and they watched Poppy and Bob dance. The rest of the humans, Sam among them, encouraged the dancersby clapping their hands. Jimmie and Ronnie laughed over something. Ironhide noted that Ronnie no longer limped. Ronnie returned as his liaison recently. Oscar did a good dogged job, but Ronnie's return to active duty relieved them both.

The dance ended, and Jimmie came up to announce the next performer. Sheena began to sing a joyful ballad, and everyone fell quiet to listen. Oscar appeared and said something to Ronnie that made the humans near him explode with laughter.

"Well, I know they always have a party when two of them are joining," Bluestreak said, "but it's not usually this big."

"It's an excuse," Swoop said. "They just want to play." Several of the bots agreed. Swoop watched Sam. The long weeks of constant strain showed, but Sam looked happy, going from one to another of his family and friends.

"Sam and Mikaela told me once that the reason they celebrate joining is to celebrate life," Bumblebee said. Minnie and Jeremy stood together clapping. Minnie's belly was swollen "And Minnie is going to have a baby by the end of the year."

"That'll sure change things around here," Sideswipe said gloomily. "Kids are work." All the bots agreed with feeling, each of them remembering sparkling duty. Now that the war had slowed down again, Slag took over most of the sparklings' care. That made him a hero to most of the Autobots. Bluestreak grew quiet for a change. While Minnie and Jeremy still involved the blue bot in most of their activities, he was a little uneasy, afraid of losing his special human friends to domesticity. Bumblebee reassured him that while matters would change, all of them could stay close and talked about some of the stunts the children would pull. The others chimed in. Swoop listened closely.

The dinobots communed after the party, before approaching Optimus and Sam. Grimlock, Sludge, and Snarl felt uncomfortable on the base; the crowded conditions made them uneasy. Annabelle solved the problem. Relaxing at the patio of Sam's add-on, she said, "You guys have been giving me the devil about the security of my retreat," referring to the ranch her mother had left her. "Let's set them up there. She pointed a finger at her former boss, "You can take a week or so off and go have some damned private time at the same time. You've been working your butt off, even more than me or Optimus or the generals, what with helping Ronnie get used to that new leg and having to cover for Minnie's morning sickness, and helping me, even after all the virus mess was over. If it weren't for Jimmie, I'm not sure you would have slept at all. The place is shielded, it has a guest house, and I think even Megatron himself would think twice about fighting those dinos."

"Yes!" Ronnie agreed, coming in time to hear most of what she said. "Dad, seriously, I've heard you grumble that you wish you could walk down the street without a bot trying to figure out where you went." Swoop was the current culprit. Every time Sam left his office or in his add-on, Swoop seemed to be around. When Sam was outside, the pterodactyl glided over him; when he was in the courtyard or anywhere in the Autobot's area, the bot was in his original form, and always seemed to be right around the corner. Sam would be reading to the sparklings or talking to Bumblebee and he would glimpse the bot out of the corner of his eye. Swoop tended to ask prying questions, and Sam got exasperated and progressed to rude. Then he pinned down Optimus and Grimlock, in that order, and told them- not asked, but told- to get the analyst off his back. He was upset enough that the questions stopped. "Besides, don't you want to test out that new thingamajig that Ratchet came up with?"

"Hmm." The thought tempted him. Ratchet itched to know if the medic's idea for All-Spark storage would work. When the material was found for the prototype Cube, Ratchet kept a part for his experiments. The download was creating a new Cube. However, Sam had to be in theta state to download, slowing the process. Reaching theta state and staying in it was very difficult. Sam could maintain it for an hour, which was very unusual, but there were millennia of history to record. Neither Sam nor the Autobots rushed the matter. Sam would die when the presence left him. It would take many more years to complete the download to the point that the presence could jump to the device if Sam died suddenly. Ratchet's new device would act as a temporary storage, if it could absorb minimal power from the presence by being on Sam.

Three weeks later,Sam strolled into the comfortable guest house on Annabelle Lennox's ranch. Swoop stayed behind. Jimmie came down for a day, before leaving to work on a new movie. Ronnie and their family came the day he left, and stayed for two days. Slag came in the middle of the week with the sparklings, who enjoyed a day running their legs off but told Sam they missed him. Poppy and her family came down for the weekend. Poppy enjoyed the quiet for the day, but admitted to Bob that she could not have stood it for long, and that she needed some noise around her.

When Poppy and her family left, Sam was on his own. He spent time downloading music from the Internet and listening to it on his portable MP3 player while he walked. He took books with him and read when he found a comfortable spot. He did maintenance on Annabelle's generator and shields, finding the simple work soothing. When he came across Sludge while looking on the shield generator, he asked how the communications specialist liked the new place. "I have room to move!" Sludge said brightly. They talked while Sam worked on the generator. To his surprise, he found Sludge easy to talk to. Sam found that he spoke about personal matters he could barely discuss with Optimus.

"How did I feel when I uploaded the Cube into Megatron? " Sam frowned into the circuitry he was testing. "I felt guilty for a long time, because I killed a living being. I felt even worse when I found out that it was the way you guys had kids. "Sam checked things while he talked. "It took some long talks with Mikaela and Bumblebee for me to feel better. Try that when Bumblebee had to limit his talking because his voice processor started glitching again. I mean, I did the right thing for the time. It saved my world from being destroyed, and maybe other worlds, too. Optimus was willing to sacrifice his life to keep my world from being destroyed and to keep all of you from being sucked into Megatron's power lust. I saw a way to stop all that and keep more people of both kinds from being killed, so I did it." He put the shield casing back and began checking the generator programming. "I didn't know until two years later that the presence came into me."

"Tell me about that. I know what happened, but I'd like to hear your story." Sam finished the check and got a ride to the house where he worked on the solar battery generator, and talked about finding the shard, and how the glyphs had driven him.

"You died?" Sludge asked, shocked. "As in, really dead?"

"I was as dead as a human can get, according to Will and the medics there," Sam said. "I barely realized it when I was standing ankle high to the dynasty of Primes. They told me that the Matrix of Leadership had to be earned, and my sacrifice earned it. I think you know the rest." Sludge considered that for a time, before changing the subject.

When talking about Mikaela, Sludge observed that Sam still missed her. "Bumblebee said you were very quiet for a long time," the brontosaurus said, "but you got better after the download. Haven't you thought about getting another mate?"

"Say remarrying or getting a girlfriend," Sam advised. "Humans really don't like the word 'mate.' For one thing, I'm old for a human, and I don't have those strong needs that younger men have. Mikaela wasn't just my wife, Sludge. She was my lifelong partner, and no one could replace her. I'm happier single." Sludge considered that, and changed the subject to how long humans lived. This was a long familiar and expected topic that Sam learned to deal with long ago. He was not surprised at Sludge's shock over the briefness of human lives.

Late one night, when Sam had eaten and cleaned up the dishes and sipped coffee on the patio, Snarl ambled by and settled to look at constellations with him. Sam moved to sit against the bot's leg to see the stars better. The bot talked a little about space and other planets. "Wouldn't you like to go up there?"

"I'd like to see it," Sam admitted, "but we haven't progressed much yet in space exploration. Our technology for that moves very slowly. Life support is a major issue. Oxygen, water, food, warmth- we have to have all that. You guys can be up there without all that at least for a time. If we're exposed to vacuum at all, we're dead. Besides, Megatron's main base is in space, so I really don't dare at this point." A breeze made the human glad he wore a light jacket.

"Sunstreaker said you've been held by the Decepticons before and you said you would die before they ever held you again. But you don't seem to have scars or anything like the other humans who were hurt do." Sam did not respond for a time. Snarl said nothing, waiting.

"I don't scar," Sam said slowly. He stopped and looked hard into another part of the darkness. "Come out, Grimlock. Sludge there too?" Both came out. Like Snarl, they were in bipedal form. "Is something wrong?"

"No, just saw you and decided to come over," Grimlock said. They settled in a rough circle. "I heard Snarl ask you about the time you were with Megatron. You said you don't scar?"

"Because of the presence, I don't scar permanently. I had four, coming from the questioning. "He pointed to both arms and both legs. "He looked back up at the stars. "Megatron asked a lot of the same questions you're asking. He wanted to know for sure I was hosting the presence, and questioned me until I answered. I didn't want to believe I held anything but the information from the Cube then. I know that a lot of you guys went through much, much worse than I did. But they were afraid of doing permanent damage. They wouldn't let me sleep, and when I lied or wouldn't answer, they shocked me until I bled. Then they moved the cuff they shocked me with to another place."

"What did you tell them?" Snarl asked.

Sam considered, and told them. "That was probably the first manifestation there," he admitted. "I actually did not know most of what I said until I said it. But they broke me to make me admit that I did carry the presence, and that sometimes it could communicate with me. After that I could sense it better, and it manifested more in the few weeks I was with the Decepticons than it had the sixty years I was with the Autobots."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Grimlock asked. "You gained abilities, right? Being able to fix us, reinforcing the shield when Sunstreaker appeared, and downloading to us, getting the virus cure?" The large bot gazed at Sam, wondering where the grim look came from.

"No, it was not a good thing," Sam said. "Guys, I do not control the presence at all. I can barely, just barely, communicate with it. Any time I do something new, it happens because the presence senses a need. There were times before when it would drive me to do something, and when Optimus saw that, the Prime knew to help. There was no need for the presence to manifest."

"So you think the All-Spark did not show itself obviously through you because there was no reason to," Grimlock said, and noted Sam's wince at the mention of the All-Spark. "Or if there was a need, it influenced you, and the Prime would help you, without the need for the All-Spark do more." Sam nodded. "You really believed you only held the knowledge?"

"Oh, yeah," Sam said with feeling. "Twice the presence came through, in sixty years. Once was to stop Megatron from killing me when I was captured by the Decepticons the first time, and I do not remember that at all. Megatron had trouble believing it afterward. I think Optimus knew after that, but he let me keep my illusions. The second time was when I fixed Bumblebee after a battle and he was dying. I have no idea what I did that worked. I just remember waking up feeling like I'd been beaten by an expert. I was out of work for three days."

"Did you wonder why you never aged and you were never sick?" Sludge asked.

"I do age, or I would still look like a teenager. Let me tell you something, guys, and I don't think it's news to you. If a human does not want to believe something, denial is easy. I was afraid to admit I held the presence because of what it is to all of you. Besides, I'm scared of it, and that's the flat truth. I was busy, and just putting off wondering about something I didn't want to deal with was easy. "He sighed and looked at the stars again.

"While you were with the Decepticons you became more aware of the All-Spark, because you were forced to use it?" Snarl said.

"It came through when I was endangered," Sam corrected. "That it came through so often is a sign that I was in a really bad situation. Megatron never called me anything but 'pet.' He enjoyed breaking me, loved seeing me come when called, visited and kept me in sight just to gloat over having hold of me." He stood and paced away, not looking at them. They waited. "You guys know what happened afterward, about the battle where I fixed Optimus right in front of Megatron and kept him distracted so no one noticed until too late?" They nodded. "Megatron knows the presence can heal me. He will not just break me. He will make certain I stay broken, make certain there is no way I can get away from him without massive loss of life and make certain I can't kill myself. My life would be hell. That's what I'm afraid of. "

"That makes a great deal of sense," Grimlock said, after thinking the matter over. "But where did the sparklings come from?"

Sam considered. He told a modified story about the spark research, but did not say he knew who the sparks were from. "That's how I know we can't make sparks for sparklings. My human body just can't tolerate the energies needed." His voice was detached. "I will say this for the presence. It gave me the choice, to simply let them go back to energy, or to renew them and let them have a chance to live and go on when it was their time again. If there had been another choice, I would have taken it, but," He shrugged. "They could not go on to wherever sparks normally go after death."

"That is so, if the sparks were taken," Grimlock said,his voice laced with rage. "I know that's happened before. You did the best you could. Fixer?"

"If you want, you can see the hologram of Optimus ripping him to pieces. Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, and Jolt all wanted to see it. So did Arcee and the others in the trine. I haven't seen it and I don't want to."

"We've upset you," Sludge said after a moment. "I'm sorry." The wind rose for a moment, and they could see Sam's hair lift and his jacket blow back.

Sam turned to look at them. "No," he said, and his voice was much more normal now. "No, I needed to take that out and look at it." He hesitated. "Yes, I carry the presence, guys. And for every advantage I get, there's a price. I will never be anything to Megatron but a possession, and I can't see Megatron as anything but a power-hungry monster." He looked up at the stars. "With the Autobots I'm a person, a sentient being with rights, and they give me room to live a human life even though I carry the presence. If you were me, who would you choose?"

Silence fell to be broken by Sam's cell phone. "Yes? Oh." He looked over at Sludge. "Ronnie's on the phone. He wants a challenge for a game of chess. One of you feel like helping me out? Ironhide's helping him." Sludge and Grimlock both instantly agreed, and Sam fetched his laptop for the Internet game. Snarl did not play, but stayed nearby and listened. They lost, but the game took a long time.l. When it ended, Sam said good night and carried the laptop into the house. The bots moved off.

Sam could hear them arguing about something, but they were too far away for him to make out what they were saying.

The next morning at the base, Sideswipe tried to reach Swoop. When there was no answer, he contacted Bluestreak and Prowl at the plant, where Swoop was assigned to look over the process. "Bert was going to show Swoop around today," Prowl said, "but he got an e-mail saying that there was an urgent situation he had to deal with. I have not been able to reach Swoop."

Bluestreak said, "Swoop's been asking a lot of questions about Sam. Think he might have gone to the ranch?"

"He better not," Sideswipe said, "Sam got upset, and Optimus ordered Swoop to back off. Thanks, guys." Frowning, the silver bot signed off. Sunstreaker frowned.

"Sides, what kind of questions has Swoop been asking?" the golden bot asked.

"From what I understand, personal questions, about Sam's involvement in the war and about the All-Spark and things like that. Sam said if he wanted to be analyzed, he would go back to the human specialist that helped him after the rescue, but Swoop can't seem to let it go. Said something to Bumblebee about balance." On the word, Sunstreaker stiffened. Then the golden bot headed off in a hurry. Sideswipe hurried to catch up to its twin. "What's wrong?"

"I told you the deal I made to get here, right?" Sunstreaker headed for the base, near Sam's add-on. "The neutrals I was with were from one of the temples. They were the ones who really wanted the information about the All-Spark. They were the ones who scoffed the hardest about it going into a human, too."

"So what does that have to do with Swoop?"

"A lot of them are pacifists, like Sludge; remember how he said he would help with the communications but would not fight? Like that. I need to talk to Slag." They found the triceratops sunning itself while the sparklings studies some puzzles the teacher made for them. "Slag," Sunstreaker said, "we can't find Swoop."

"I thought Swoop was supposed to be helping at the energon plants," the teacher said, lifting his head and looking at the twins. Sideswipe explained. "I haven't seen him for about a week. Swoop's a great analyst, but when it comes to getting information from anybody, he can nag, and Sam got upset. Optimus told Swoop to leave Sam alone. I talked to Sam for him."

"What were you on Cybertron?" Sunstreaker asked urgently.

"I was a youth director at the Temple of the All-Spark," Slag said, and checked on his charges again. "The others were there, too. We all left together when the temple was evacuated right before a Decepticon attack, after the Cube was spaced. The high priesthood left, too. They were bitter about the All-Spark being cast into space. None of us could stand the Decepticon destruction, but at the time we could not agree with what Optimus did. Not that it matters now." He looked at the Autobot symbol on his back. "Sam has it safe, and is working on getting it back where it belongs, and that's good enough for me." Just then one of the sparklings whooped, and Slag pushed himself to his feet. The twins left.

Sideswipe frowned, deep in thought. "Grimlock got his stamp first, then Slag, and Sludge and Snarl got theirs together," he said thoughtfully, "but Swoop never did." Sunstreaker considered, and agreed. "I can't reach any of the dinobots that went with Sam. What's the problem, Sunny? "

"I'm worried about how those guys might have reacted to the information about the All-Spark being in Sam," Sunstreaker said. "I know that they were considered fanatics out there, and since all the trouble with the virus, we haven't been able to keep up with the meteors. They could have come down and we haven't noticed."

"I don't know about you but I'd think twice before trying to get past those three with him," Sideswipe advised. "We'll keep trying to get one of them. Besides, we're not talking Megatron here, right?"

"Right," Sunstreaker said. Off and on for the rest of the day, they kept trying, but could not get through to Sludge, Snarl, Grimlock, Swoop or Sam. By late afternoon, they contacted Optimus.

"Poppy and Minnie contacted me," the Prime said. "Sam called both of them on their landline phones, saying that the wireless network in the area seems to be down. He said it was working fine last night, when he was in contact with Ronnie. Prowl contacted me regarding Swoop. Why are you concerned?" Sunstreaker explained. "Speak to Slag again. I'd like to know what the others did at the temple as well."

It took them a while to find the teacher, who had headed for the recreation area when Ironhide took the sparklings. Slag said, "Grimlock and Snarl were investigators. Sludge was the communications center for the entire Temple. Swoop was a judge."

"I don't like it," Sunstreaker said. "I know the ones in space glitched out when they heard that rumor. I don't know what they can do, but the temple held a lot of information. Swoop was an analyst and a judge. He access to everything. He's been obsessed with Sam. "

Sideswipe reported back to Optimus. "Swoop has not sworn our oath as the others have," Optimus said, "and should not be able to get into the shield around the ranch. I want Swoop found, but I want the two of you to check on Sam. Contact me as soon as you can. Now that the danger from the virus is past, Swoop might decide that the All-Spark is temple business again. If I do not hear from you by this time today, I will come myself."

Back at the ranch, Sam was in the guest house, newly dressed and showered and wondering what to do next. Today he hiked to the main ranch building and made the two calls to Poppy and Minnie. Both had wired work phones that would be answered no matter what. "If I didn't call somebody," he said out loud to the ceiling as he stretched, "someone would panic when they couldn't get me." When Poppy suggested someone come to check security, he told her that if someone wanted to come and spend some time with him, that was fine, but not to call in the cavalry. She snickered.

He ambled to the table with a drink and a book. He ate lunch at the main ranch house and stayed to talk to the ex-Nest soldiers who were there during the day. It was late afternoon.

He heard the sound of a transform and looked around for one of the bots. He wondered where they were all morning. Usually he saw them now and again. Seeing nothing, he turned back to his book. A few minutes later he heard something again, but before he could move, there was a sharp pain in his neck. He yelped and started to stand. A large hand held him down. Sam hit his beacon as Swoop moved into view, before he rubbed his neck and looked at his hand to see if there was blood. He slid the other hand into his pocket. Already he felt odd.

"Traitor," he said,carefully, "how did you get in?" I was the one who insisted we save the neutrals from the virus, he thought, and this is how one of them repays me. Swoop reached over and pulled his hand out of his pocket. The sonic ball fell to the ground. His hand was too numb to hold it. The bot placed both of Sam's hands onto the table and held them. Sam tried uselessly to pull away. 

"I came in when James left, and I have no intention of turning you over to the Decepticons," Swoop told him. Sam felt some relief. "The nanites I injected are to keep you from struggling and to minimize pain." He paused. Sam fought to stay upright. "Unlike the clumsy chemicals humans use, the nanites hold your codes, and adjust to you as needed. The All-Spark will not reject them. Humans are not the first organics we have dealt with, just the most recent. "

"Codesss?" Sam managed to say. How would Swoop know when Cybertronians dealt with organics?

"DNA is the term I hear used for your basic codes. I scratched you once to obtain them." Sam remembered the day Swoop scratched Sam on the arm; he thought it was an accident, though he had been pretty annoyed about it. "I timed how long it took to heal to see how far the All-spark had melded to you. It is entwined with your codes, with your basic structure at this point. Without the nanites, the removal will be very painful. I have no wish to cause you pain."

"Why? What are you?" Sam managed to ask. He felt numb everywhere, but he could still feel fear. Why would Swoop want to kill him?

"I was the High Court Judge for the Temple of the All-Spark. We must try you for the destruction of the Cube, and correct the imbalance," Swoop said. "We have a container, and there is a ritual. I have been examining you. When you objected to my 'prying', I had the others talk to you for me. They were my investigators before the war." Sam remembered how he had talked so freely to all the dinobots, Sludge especially. "When they realized what I was planning, they objected. I was forced to off-line them."

Sam jerked at that news, and fell from the chair. "No," he managed to whisper. Swoop caught and examined him gently. 

"Grimlock, Sludge and Snarl were some of my closest and most trusted followers, but they defied me. They see no reason to proceed, and would have stopped the ritual. Sludge had already disabled the communications to stop me from bringing the others, but I sent for them days ago. I did not call Slag, as he would have reported the trial and brought Optimus too soon. The Prime will be dealt with later, when we have the All-Spark in a proper container and I am able to channel the power. "

Sam could not feel his body at all now, but he could feel anguish. "Good. The nanites are working. You must be aware for the trial." The judge for the Temple of the All-spark picked Sam up and carried him away.


	6. Swoop fails, and Megatron steps in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Swoop meets an unexpected opponent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Transformer except in my daydreams.

Swoop carried Sam to the most remote part of the ranch. Sam heard the chatter of several bots in Cybertronian as they approached. For some reason it made him think of the sparklings. Sam's eyes were still open-he was so numb that he could not blink his eyes- and he saw they were close to the shield. He wondered how Swoop intended to let them in. The High Judge might be able to sneak in and out on a truck or something, but the shield required either the Autobot symbol or a pass to come in through one of the gates. Sam knew exactly where the gates were, and none of them sat close to this part of the ranch. 

Close to the shield, Swoop lay Sam down so that he faced the group. He could not be sure, but he thought there were about ten Cybertronians. That shook him. How many followers did Swoop have? These could not hope to challenge the Decepticons or the Autobots. Clearly Swoop off-lined his heavy hitters. Why do that? Sam asked himself for the twentieth time during the walk. Didn't Swoop, or the High Judge or whatever need his followers after he got the All-Spark? He knew just looking at the bots in front of him that these were not soldiers. If a Decepticon showed, they were toast. Suddenly he wondered if they had the vaccine yet.

He saw a device that looked vaguely cube shaped and a variety of what looked a lot like musical instruments. These must figure in the ritual. That thought frightened him. He wanted to live. He wanted to see Minnie's baby; he wanted to find out what names the sparklings chose for themselves. He wondered if the idea he and Bert batted around about using sunlight in space to make energon would work out.

He felt the presence stir. Numb and limp, unable to move or even feel the ground beneath him, he sensed it more easily, almost as well as in his theta state. He wondered if the presence would know the bots doing the ritual. Didn't the judge say it was from the All-Spark temple? He wondered if that was why the presence reacted so quickly to Sam's vague wish to help the dinobots. Or did Swoop the judge do that by manipulating the presence's power? No, he said he could channel the All-Spark's power once it was in a proper container. Sector Seven could do that, and if they could, anyone could. Sam remembered what the presence let him know the night they remade the sparks into the sparklings. At this point, the power went though him alone. That was why it gave him the choice to remake or release the sparks, because he had to pay the price when the energy ran through him.

That was why Swoop wanted this ritual. No matter what Swoop the judge said, he wanted his own power back by putting the All-Spark in a container he could use. He knew Sam chose Optimus as his protector, which made Optimus the All-Spark's protector. Hadn't he pointed that out to Snarl, Sludge and Grimlock the other night, along with the reason? Swoop knew Sam trusted no other bot as he trusted the Prime, and that Sam's ability to manipulate the power was severely limited by his human limitation. 

Optimus and Ratchet did their best to talk Sam out of the first download; they feared that the All-Spark would jump into the prototype and Sam would die. Sam wondered sometimes what Optimus went through, waiting those two hours before he came back. Swoop the analyst knew that the presence could leave Sam at any download. Even Megatron, who despised any power he could not control or manipulate, knew that.

Swoop tended to prefer peaceful solutions if he found them, but he numbed Sam with nanites to protect himself as much as to spare Sam pain. Otherwise, the power might defend Sam as it did before. Swoop expected to take the power from Sam and put it where the judge/ priest could use it, holding a trial to justify his actions. With the All-Spark and his former status, the priest might think he could gather the neutrals into a separate force. That would only prolong the misery of this war. The All-Spark did not take sides. Sam could, but the presence itself would or could not.

"Life's not fair anywhere in the universe," Swoop murmured to him, as he closed the human's eyes.

Sam agreed with that particular saying as he heard the judge talking in Cybertronian to its followers.

The High Judge of the Temple of the All-Spark turned to the followers most loyal to him, ready to begin the trial and the ritual.

The Temple of the All-Spark was the heart of Cybertron before the war. Every Cybertronian went there at some point in life. There new sparks jumped from the All-Spark to new bodies; children came for special instruction; and judgment was passed on blasphemers. That was the High Judge's dominion, until the Temple was attacked and the Cube ejected into space.

The group came to Earth to investigate the matter of the All-Spark for some time before the virus outbreak. Grimlock led while all of them investigated. When they gathered the information they needed, Swoop would decide how to proceed. The neutrals in space were not a cohesive group under one leader as the Autobots or the Decepticons were, but most of them in the station were connected to the temple in some way, and they all wanted to know what happened the All-Spark their temple had protected.

They descended and were immediately attacked by the Decepticons. They were left stranded and unable to proceed with anything when they discovered they could no longer transform or change alts. They learned a great deal about humans from watching them in the park near the church orphanage and services center. The encounter with the NEST team and thereafter Sam was a blessing sent from Primus. All of them agreed immediately that the virus matter must be dealt with first, as a threat to all Cybertronians that were not Decepticons.

But Swoop was dismayed by how quickly and easily all of them merged with the Autobots. Once Slag knew he would not only be allowed, but almost begged to take over the sparkling training, Swoop knew he lost the teacher. Seeing how Sam and the humans interacted with the Autobots, and the high standards they held, convinced the others that neutrality in this war did not exist. The war destroyed their own planet; they refused to allow the Decepticons destroy another.

During the situation, Swoop used his valued skills with relish. His analysis enabled NEST to counter the Decepticons and spare lives. Optimus and the Autobots, and even the humans, listened to his conclusions and acted on them. Unlike the others, he remembered his primary mission. They forgot the reason we came in the first place, Swoop mused. We came to find out if the All-Spark was destroyed, in the human, or still lost. Now that they knew the truth, the unfortunate situation must be corrected. The source of life for their race was trapped in an organic body. He must correct that anomaly. 

Other organic and technoganic races attempted to take the All-Spark. Some, like Sam, took the power into themselves somehow. In every case before this one, the organic deliberately took the power. In every case, the organic was insane, so judgment was easy. The ritual called the All-Spark out and passed judgment on the one who carried the power. 

Well versed in detecting lies, Swoop listened to Sam talk of his experiences to Sludge. Sam used the weapon at hand to save his life and the lives of others. Swoop pitied the human; from his youth he became the tool of a power he sensed but could not hope to understand. Even now, he wanted to spare the organic as much as possible. In the orphanage he observed, Swoop remembered an incident when some of the children put a frog in the holy water font. The priest of the local parish made the children put the frog back into a nearby pond. The priest disposed of the holy water properly, cleansed the font, and refilled it with freshly blessed water. Like the holy water in the font, Swoop must remove the All-Spark from Sam and situate it properly. As much as he hated to admit it, the Prime acted correctly; he protected the carrier of the All-Spark, recognized when the power in Sam acted and acted accordingly, and enabled the transfer of power when a mean appeared. But the Prime became far too attached to the carrier. Swoop knew he would never allow this ritual.

His own people opposed this ritual. Predictably, Sludge argued especially hard. Humans lived incredibly short live. Sam had another half a vorn left at best. He added power and information to the prototype daily. In the meantime, the All-Spark responded to need through Sam, and the Prime knew when to support him. To quote the humans, why mess with a system that worked? Grimlock and Snarl both backed the upset communicator. It was remarkable, the Judge reflected, how strongly the instinct to protect the All-Spark and protect the weak joined when Sam became involved.Even the Judge felt that appeal, resulting in the creation of the nanites.

The High Judge and Priest would take his own rightful place as the priest of the All-Spark, one where he could channel the power as needed to return to Cybertron's ways. Swoop knew this ritual would kill Sam. He accepted that necessity, but saw no reason not to ease the pain as much as possible. "Life is not fair anywhere in the universe," the judge said to the still form on the ground. Noticing that Sam's eyes were open,he gently stroked them closed.

 

The trial began.

Sam barely followed the formal Cybertronian; the voices went out of range of his hearing frequently. He heard enough to understand that Swoop accused him of blasphemy. He wondered why Swoop bothered with the trial at all, when Sam lay helpless. Swoop went over his investigation. The Judge started by detailing the Mission City battle, using accounts from all the originals Autobots who landed with Optimus along with Sam's story. Then he went over the events leading to and during the defeat of the Fallen, including the death of Optimus, the death of Sam, and the revival of both in order to stop the Fallen and prevent the harvest of Earth's sun for energon. Carefully and with scrupulous attention to detail, the judge went over Sam's denial of the presence, his claim that he did not control the presence and his pain when the power went through him.

In conclusion, the judge ruled that Samuel James Witwicky was guilty of destroying the Cube. He ruled that Sam was not guilty of blasphemy as the human was incapable of understanding the significance of what he destroyed. Instead the All-Spark possessed the human to preserve itself and the information it held, thereby trapping both the human and itself into a meld that was detrimental to both of them.

He concluded that the All-Spark was to be removed from Samuel James Witwicky as humanely as possible, and restored as closely as possible to its former state. Sam was released from any further blame or responsibility. Swoop the Judge made it sound like they were doing Sam a much needed service. "As the human is prepared for the removal at this time, begin the ritual," the High Judge concluded.

They started making a lot of noise. He wondered briefly if this was Cybertronian music, before he felt the effect immediately. It pulled something from every cell in his body, the way steam bellowed up from a good hot shower. It did not hurt, no more than having a tooth pulled when the dentist numbed had the mouth. Instead, weakness spread through him. Power bled from him. Its loss would kill him as surely as losing too much blood. Without that power, his body would no longer function. He began to wheeze. He felt his heart speed up. He felt tears ooze. I'm dying, he thought.

He saw light even through his eyelids. But even as he felt the presence rising from him, it touched his mind, the way it did in theta state and in deep sleep. There were no words, just knowledge and a feeling of being comforted and cherished. Power returned to him somewhere, enough to steady his breathing and slow his frantic heart. Ratchet's device absorbed enough of the presence to keep Sam going. But how long?

In the meantime, the presence manifested above him. As the light grew, Sam realized something else. 

It was not happy. At all. 

 

With sensors at maximum, Megatron and Starscream watched. Soundtrack monitored the transmissions the priest made to his followers and the pair followed them here to take possession when the transfer completed. Once the ritual completed, Megatron would teach the foolish priest a lesson in taking what Megatron rightfully claimed, but in the meantime they waited for Sam to die, gloating over his helplessness.

The ritual began. Megatron did not understand most of it as they used ancient Cybertronian and the music irritated him. He looked for a sign that the power transfer occurred.

A haze, like heat, rose above the human, and gathered into a ball of light. Into a spark. 

Into the All-Spark. 

Beautiful in ways they never imagined, none of them could look away . Involuntarily the Decepticon leader remembered when he held the human in his power. For three long days the human resisted answering the questions Megatron wanted answered the most. Oh, there were other questions, and he answered them all except for the questions on the All-Spark. Those questions he refused to answer no matter how phrased. Over and over the shocks ran through him, until the skin leaked red and they had to move it. Over and over Sam fell to his knees, sometimes onto his arms. When he finally answered, Sam spoke with an echo to his voice. The answer to the final question rang in Megatron's memory as he watched. "This thing, being, whatever, is power, raw power. I will never understand it, it is not of my race or my world, and it scares me.'"

How had the human known?

The glowing Spark below was of Megatron's race and of his world, and it frightened the Decepticon leader as badly as it frightened the human. It radiated anger-totally controlled, unrelenting, unforgiving anger.

"Who do you call me to judge?"

To give the High Judge credit, he responded calmly, with all the aplomb of an official whose ceremony had been rudely interrupted by someone it would be unwise to offend. "We seek to free you of an organic prison, and release the human from its bondage of serving a power it cannot understand," the judge said.

"I was drawn from my host by a ritual that passes judgment on one who seized the power I hold for personal use. Do you accuse my host?" The All-Spark did not speak, but everyone understood it. 

"The human destroyed the Cube in which the All-Spark resided, therefore trapping the All-Spark within him. This situation is being corrected."

So politically correct, Megatron reflected in admiration.

"The situation was corrected before this action was taken. My host was a child at the time of the Cube's destruction by the standards of this world and ours. He was judged when he became an adult, by the Dynasty of Primes. There is no need for further judgment of my host."

There was a shocked murmur going through the bots. "Did he not trap you within him when the Cube was destroyed? Swoop asked.

"I was trapped when I discovered my host would not allow his line to be used as hosts. I am no longer trapped. I choose."

Swoop made his final, desperate move. He could hear his followers murmuring in fear and outrage. Why would the All-Spark choose a human? "And the human? Has he been given a choice?"

The All-Spark pulsed. Then an insubstantial form came from the human. It was Sam, but his body remained on the ground. Swoop backed away. He heard of human souls. This was nothing like a spark- and yet it was-

Megatron and Starscream stood equally shocked. The humans had a kind of spark? One that responded to the All-Spark?

The form looked down at his body and then at the All-Spark. The two communed, but they could not hear what passed between them. The form dropped back into the body, which twitched and then lay still again. The All-Spark moved over to the body. Power began to thrum through it. "If the one I am called to judge is not deserving of judgment, the ones who call take his place in being judged. For what reason do you question my choice?" When the All-Spark judged, it did not need anything but the people it judged. One by one, the bots outside the shield went still, with a haze shimmering over them. Swoop was last. In the end, the All-Spark glowed strongly. "Look above you, you who claimed to be my priest and never believed. That is the last one who fooled himself that his wish for power was the destiny of Cybertron. Our world stands damaged for that pride, and the power the Lord High Protector once held is gone forever."

Swoop saw Megatron and Starscream. He also discovered he no longer stood within the shield.

" All of you are guilty of the charges you brought against my host. High Judge, give the others the protection I created for all of you."Swoop passed on the virus vaccine as ordered, feeling as numb as Sam as it did so. "Hear me. All of you are banished from this planet, never to return . Go back. Pass on the protection I gave you. If my host ever comes to space, you will help him in whatever way he needs help, by any means, up to and including your deaths." The haze enveloped all of them, and Swoop felt the change in his programming. When he could look around, he saw that every instrument used to call the All-Spark from the host lay completely destroyed, including the container. "Go."

Megatron watched them and struck Starscream, pointing at them. Starscream left. Megatron waited until the All-Spark went from Spark to haze to gone, back into the organic body of his pet. The human's body never moved during the entire ceremony. Megatron intended to take him to the cage prepared for him, one he would never escape.


	7. Rescues and Conclusions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Transformers. Sigh

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe arrived at the ranch in the early night, and began searching. They found the guest house, with the door unlocked, a drink on the table and a book on the ground. When Sunstreaker bent down to pick something up, Sideswipe quickly knocked his hand away. "That's a sonic ball," he said. "It only works on bots. Sam must be in real trouble. Come on."

They split up . Sideswipe found Sludge, Snarl and Grimlock all in stasis. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker released Grimlock first.

"Swoop did this to all of us. I'd forgotten he could do that," the large bot said grimly. "Swoop used to be a priest and the High Judge of the temple." He explained about their original mission. "Swoop said there was a ritual to pull the All-Spark out of Sam. Sludge turned off the transmissions to keep the damned fool from getting the word out but you said Sam was missing?"

Sludge said, "I think they were already called. The way Swoop was acting, like doing a ritual would change anything or do anything at all but hurt Sam, I think his processor must have glitched."

"No," Snarl said and snarled as he stretched. "By Primus, that hurts! No, he just wants the All-Spark back to where he can channel the power again. When we were on Cybertron he could do that. I don't even know how he got in the shield. We didn't let him in."

"Sludge, get the communications up and get word to the base," Grimlock ordered, starting to move. "Swoop can't let others into the shield, so he has to meet them at the edge somewhere away from the human areas. We need to run the shield until we see something. One of you comes with me, the other with Snarl. When anyone sees Sam, Swoop, or any sign of them, call the others in internal comm. Move!"

Sunstreaker went with Grimlock, leaving his twin with Snarl. With Grimlock's approval, he transformed and ran the shield with his flar alt, leaving Grimlock behind. Just when Sludge sent the message that the network was back up, they heard the first assault on the shield. The golden bot headed for the noise. They transformed and ran as soon as they saw Megatron test the shield again. Without hesitation, Sideswipe transformed back while Sunstreaker bent over Sam. Finding that he was breathing and not bleeding anywhere, the golden bot snatched him up and loaded him into the silver twin's alt. "Get him to safety!" Sunstreaker said, "You know the humans better than the rest of us. Sludge! Megatron's going to blow the shield!" Megatron stepped back, the whine of his cannons telling Sunstreaker that he was charging his cannons charging for the heaviest shot he could bring. Sideswipe took off.

"I've contacted Optimus! The Prime is already on the way, someone heard Starscream was nearby."

"Then all of us will hold the Decepticons as best we can," Grimlock said as he pounded up. He roared. That mighty sound startled even Megatron. Sunstreaker flinched involuntarily. On the other side, Snarl charged up. Sunstreaker backed up, getting out of the way of the larger bots. As the golden bot set to back them up, he found Sludge coming up from behind. Rage radiated from the huge, usually pacific bot. He sent a brief burst of communication to all of them.

"Fools," Megatron growled, and fired, just as the shield dropped. The shot flew past all of them and buried itself into the ground some distance away. Sludge hirled, sending all the weight in his huge tail crashing against the Decepticon leader. Megatron tumbled. The other two charged as soon as the tail stopped moving. Sunstreaker looked for a chance to get his guns or swords in play. The two more experienced dinobots took turns slamming Megatron, keeping him off his feet. When he started to transform, Grimlock got his jaws on a part and ripped it off. Megatron went into jet form to find part of a wing missing. Then Sludge hit him again, this time a straight slam downward. Snarl took off another piece with the spikes at the end of his tail.

Megatron transformed again, firing as soon as he could. Sludge took several shots before Grimlock got his teeth on Megatron's arm and Snarl took his feet out from under him. This time Sunstreaker came in and used his swords effectively. He jumped back when Megatron's arm yanked loose of Grimlock, leaving armor behind. Sunstreaker heard a jet.

Starscream fired on Snarl and Grimlock, throwing them off of his master. "Get the human!" Megatron howled. "I'll finish this filth!"

"Sunstreaker, find and give Sideswipe backup," Grimlock sent, and charged again. Sunstreaker transformed into his alt mode and moved. He thought he was moving as fast as he could, until he heard gunfire.   
The makers of that particular brand of flar would have been gratified by the speed Sunstreaker managed then.

 

From the company jet large enough to hold the bots, Annabelle announced, "I think you're all freaking out for no reason. Sam has the shield, he has those three big bots, and he's defended himself short term before. Just because the network died and he's not under your eye is no reason to freak out." She leveled a look at the huge bot in the cargo hold, barely fitting. "But I'll take the chance to get to the ranch for some vacation, and get you out there too."

"It is my sincerest wish for Sam to tease me for being paranoid," Optimus told her, "and be able to relax for a few days." The Autobot leader spoke to Annabelle earlier in the day and she organized the trip in exasperation. She worked under Sam Witwicky from the day her enlistment with NEST ended, watching him thrive on work that would have driven hardened soldiers like her father to their knees. As the former CEO and partial owner of a company that rivaled General Electric, Microsoft, and General Motors in their day, he was a powerful man , and she felt the bots seldom gave him the credit he deserved for the work he did. Sam was not a warrior, but without him, the warriors would never have been able to wage their battles. Her father acknowledged that to her the day she joined the company as Sam's assistant.

She thanked Primus, God and any other deity she cared to name that she ran the company in peacetime and rarely worked the grueling hours Sam put in. By the time she took the helm, Sam had the company responsibilities divided up so that she worked a reasonable work week and lived a human life. She needed eight hours of sleep a night. She had hobbies she intended to keep. She also knew she would never be in the danger he was. The world believed that terrorists came after Sam because he funded NEST to battle them. The world did not know that NEST battled aliens and that some of the NEST soldiers were aliens as well. Annabelle sincerely hoped the world remained in ignorance for the rest of her natural life.

The pilot came on. "I've got a transmission from the base," she reported. "Starscream's been seen near the ranch."

"Get us there ASAP," Annabelle snapped. She jumped in Optimus as soon as he transformed. The private airfield stood only a mile or so from the ranch, so Optimus got Sludge's message immediately. Optimus put on a burst of speed that scared the daylights out of Annabelle. She rooted in the cab fort her weapons together and thanked heaven she dressed sensibly for the trip.They found the shield down when they got to the ranch. Optimus sent a com and got an intensely relived Sideswipe at once. Optimus paused by the silver bot's alt long enough to drop Annabelle off. Then he transformed. The sight of Sam so still and quiet in Sideswipe's seat sent the Autobot leader into a contained rage. Annabelle poked her head out to say Sam was not bleeding and his heartbeat and breathing seemed okay.

Starscream appeared. Optimus started firing. Sunstreaker appeared a few moments later. "Get Sam to a hospital," Optimus instructed, and got two solid hits on Starscream, who flipped and crashed. The twins took off. Optimus transformed and headed for the greater threat.

He arrived as Megatron leveled his cannon on a downed Sludge. The other two struggled to get up. Transforming, Optimus pulled and slammed his sword into the one he once called brother. The shot went wild. t Optimus rained blows on his rival leader, inflicting damage on top of damage. But Starscream appeared again shooting at the downed dinobots. When Optimus turned on the flyer, Megatron transformed and left, Starscream behind him. Optimus contacted the twins, who reported that they reached the hospital and parked safely. Optimus turned his attention to his injured comrades.

Annabelle paced in the hospital corridors. The emergency room responded with quick efficiency, enfolding Sam in the cocoon of hospital care. Fearing stroke, they ran him to an MRI immediately. Annabelle called Poppy from Sideswipe, who faxed in both the healthcare power of attorney saying Poppy could consent to medical care and signed consent to treat Sam. She gave them Sheena's number as well. 

She walked to the hospital bed when it rolledl out of the room. Sam stirred and opened his eyes, then turned his head jerkily. He saw her. His mouth twitched, and she almost wept. He was trying to smile. She followed as they took him to a hospital room. They shooed her out. Shortly afterward, the doctor came to see her. "It's not a stroke," he said first. "Dr. Anderson said that Mr. Witwicky had problems with neuritis, that's inflammation of his nerves? We've found a few lesions that might be causing that. They're at some critical junctions of his major spinal nerves, and and we think caused the paralysis. It seems to be fading right now, so we'll wait and see how that works out. "

"He generally goes into a very deep sleep for several hours and wakes up fine after a bout," Annabelle informed the doctor. He nodded.

"Dr. Anderson did explain. She stated that Mr. Witwicky dislikes any kind of medication. "

"Won't even take a Tylenol," she assured him. She did not add that he never needed to.

"Considering the remarkable shape he's in, I don't blame him," the doctor said. "I wish I was in half as good condition. She also said to expect security? "Annabelle nodded and explained.

She nodded and he said the hospital would make arrangements. She added, "I'm hoping his daughter Poppy will be here shortly, too. She's about the only one he'll listen to when he feels better. Dr. Anderson did explain about how –difficult-"she wanted to say cranky," he can get?" The doctor's mouth twitched as he assured her that they would do the best they could. There was a quiver in his voice when he said it.. Annabelle refrained from asking what the forthright Sheena said. 

Annabelle called with the good news, and arranged for the plane to fetch the family. She texted the twins to let them spread the news as well. "Optimus said Megatron and Starscream got away, but between the dinobots and Optimus they're beat up good. The Prime doubts that they'll give us much trouble for a while," Sideswipe reported. "All of them took some damage but Sludge is bad. Looks like Swoop and a group from their station in space did something with Sam, and Starscream went after them. The ones we found are permanently off-lined. I think the rest left for space. "

Annabelle signed off and checked on Sam, who slept. There was a security guard outside his door. She left to find a meal.

Sam woke several hours later. He opened his eyes to see Poppy, Ronnie and Jimmie on either side of him, and he smiled at their anxious faces. "Morning," he said, his voice a scratch. Their faces lit up with relief. Poppy got him some water and he began moving experimentally. Everything worked. He had a lot of annoying hospital stuff attached to him. "Take this stuff off me, Poppy," he demanded.

"Dad's better," Jimmie said. Ronnie grinned, and Poppy huffed in exasperation.

Sam remembered the ritual, and he remembered the extraordinary feeling of being taken from his body to face a lot of bots and the All-Spark. He remembered the equally weird feeling of direct communication with the All- Spark. It gave him a choice- to allow it back in, and continue the download, or leave. He considered, and gave back the decision. In the next moment, he was back in his body and regretting it. Still, he enjoyed watching it reprogram Swoop and the others. Shortly after he heard a voice he dreaded.

"Fools. I thought I would finally have a chance to rip the flesh from your bones, pet, but once again I stand disappointed. I still have a use for you. I have a pen that you will not break out of. "He heard the sound of the shield being tested. Then the blessed, welcome sound of flars and pounding feet. He knew he was being picked up and moved. He heard bots shouting. Some time later he heard Annabelle, and the noise of a moving flar. He knew when they arrived at the hospital and the MRI. As the machine worked, he felt something happen in his back. Then, miracle of miracles, the tingling started. When he came out of the machine and heard Annabelle, he opened his eyes and tried to smile. He couldn't, but she saw it and her relief was worth the attempt.

The doctor released him to Poppy's care. Sam had to wonder why he looked so amused. Sam signed all the necessary paperwork and climbed into First Aid, who came to work on the dinobots. "All right, First, tell me what's going on," he demanded. "I thought I heard Megatron, but I don't know if I was dreaming or not."

"You weren't," First Aid told him. "Optimus said to wait until we get to the ranch, there are too many pieces to the puzzle and we need them all to figure out the whole picture. And you are supposed to be resting."

Sam snorted at that and gave his opinion at length about what hospital expected patients to put up with. First Aid tuned him out after the second sentence. Sam wound down after a time and started piecing things together. "Somebody must have come to check on me," he said aloud.

"The twins," First Aid answered, startling him. "Sunstreaker got suspicious when Swoop disappeared and after the twins talked to Slag, Optimus did too. Optimus came not long after that in the plane. Annabelle made a deal with the Prime that no matter what they would stay at least three days, so all the top guys would get a vacation in."

"You don't know how glad I am about that," Sam said with great sincerity. He could relax if Optimus was there. He lay back against the seat, waiting to get to the ranch and find out if Swoop lied to him. As soon as First Aid stopped and got his doors open, he climbed out. His legs almost gave out and he leaned hard on the bot to stay upright. He walked over to the patio and sat at the table, fooling no one.

"Stay right there, Daddy," Poppy commanded as she climbed out of Sideswipe. "I contacted Optimus already." What she next was lost with the transform of First Aid.

"I need to check on Sludge and the others, Sam, so I'll-"

"They're not off-lined?" Sam shot up. Then he leaned hard on the table. "Swoop said it off-lined them," he added, and sat again.

"Temporary," Sunstreaker said, coming up in his bipedal form. "You had us scared, Sam, when you just lay there. Sides and I were able to get them back on-line, and that was a good thing, 'cause we had a nasty fight on our hands."

"Considering Megatron came to visit, I think so," Sam agreed grimly. "How bad are they, First?"

"They'll make it, but Sludge is pretty torn up. The other two are hurt, not as bad. Optimus got a few hits, but nothing too bad." First Aid moved off. The two boys and Annabelle showed up with a picnic basket, followed shortly by Optimus. Sam looked Optimus over carefully, and saw he was being looked over just as carefully.

Sam talked, and the others listened between bites. When he finished, the twins told their side. "It did my spark good to see Sludge smack Megatron," Sunstreaker admitted. "That tail turned out to be a wicked weapon. The problem is, that's all he had. When Megatron started shooting, all he could do was stand there and be one big target. Of course, that gave the rest of us an opening."

"I was just glad to see Annabelle and Optimus," Sideswipe said with feeling.

Ronnie used Sam's laptop to make notes. Optimus seemed troubled. Sam wondered why. The matter was settled, wasn't it? Swoop and the fanatics were banished, he was fine, and all the injured bots would heal. What bothered Sam was Sludge joining in an actual physical fight. When he could manage it, he went to see the huge bot.

"I had to," Sludge said. "You lay helpless, and that-that- " Sludge could simply not bring himelf to curse. Sam reflected that it really was like a nun, an observation of Oscar's that made the humans near him laugh until they hurt. "-monster was standing there on the other side of the shield- and I didn't know what Swoop did to you but I know what he planned-"

"Calm down, you sound like Bluestreak," Sam advised. "Whatever Swoop planned, it didn't work out the way he hoped. The opposite, I think." He told Sludge what he heard. Sludge was stunned. Looking over at Grimlock and Snarl, he saw that they were equally stunned. "What?"

"You wouldn't know," Grimlock said. "Sam, you're on Earth, right? And you still hold the All-Spark, the power in you is stronger than ever." Sam nodded. "The All-Spark banished Swoop and the others from its presence, Sam. All of Swoop's authority came from being a judge and a priest of the All-Spark. Judges could direct All-Spark energy. That's gone now. At the same time, if you go into space and you need help, they have to help you, they have no choice."

"You said you'd never go into space because that's where Megatron's power base is, right?" Snarl said. "So Swoop, who was high in the priesthood, is now no longer a priest, and banished from the All-Spark unless you go into space. Sam, let me tell you, Swoop probably wishes he had off-lined permanently with the others Starscream killed." 

Sam considered. "So the All-Spark handed Swoop the harshest sentence it could," he qualified. They all nodded. "I'm sorry if I sound vindictive, but Swoop deserved that," Sam said. "He wanted his power and he was willing to kill me for it. Megatron and Starscream would have killed every single one of them and ripped me to pieces for the fun of it. " He stood up from where he was sitting again Sludge. "Now comes the really fun part, where I have to go to Ratchet and listen to him crow about how well his device worked."

Sam was better within a few days and back to work. However, in a couple of weeks, he was restless. Coming close to dying has a habit of changing perspectives, he reflected. He told Annabelle she needed to hire people to manage the voids he was filling. "I want to work on a couple of projects," he said. "Bert and I have been kicking around an idea about getting solar power in space for those new colonies the UN wants to establish. Minnie finally got the Australian company to admit that they're trying to put together better power sources for those. He wondered if we could morph that into producing energon, too. I think there might be a design."

"Go for it," Annabelle said. "We'll find help."

"Whatever. I'm not talking about tomorrow, Annabelle, but I need to work on something new."

"The company need to learn not to need you, Sam. Don't get me wrong, we'll always want you, but I want to wean myself and Minnie off leaning on you." She sat back. When he asked to talk to her privately, she bargained for lunch at his add-on. Sam laughed and agreed. All the cooking lessons shaped him into a decent cook, and the add-on was private from humans. "Where is everyone? Usually there's quite a bit of noise around here." 

That turned Sam serious. "Something's going on, and I don't like it. Since I got back, there's been a lot of hostility toward Slag. I heard that Ratchet refused to tend the dinobots."

"There's a lot of bad feeling," Annabelle said, uncomfortable. "They say Swoop was a traitor." Annabelle heard a lot more than that. The bots kept their feelings from Sam after he came down on Bumblebee pretty sharply when Bumblebee criticized the dinobots over their behavior. When Sam got that way with his best friend, the rest of the bots knew they better back off. Annabelle knew from Minnie that Prowl was investigating something, and that the bots were still upset over the incident.

"I'm afraid of it getting to witch-hunt status. I've said something to Optimus about it, and the Prime said it was internal." When Optimus said the matter was internal, Sam knew pushing would only get him stonewalled and irritate the Prime.

Suddenly he went still and his eyes went blank. He stood and walked away without a word. Annabelle followed him into the infirmary, into a room with a cubical object. The door shut behind him. She looked through the window in the door. Sam lay down in the comfortable chair that was by the cube, and put his hand on it. Above him, there was a haze, then a blinding light, and then there was nothing. She watched, alarmed, but Sam's chest rose regularly. His eyes stared, and then closed. He looked asleep. Annabelle ran for Sheena.

In the meadow the bots held a hearing. The dinobots fought for and with his family, and they fought Megatron for him. Sam was fiercely loyal to those he saw as friends. At the same time, the feeling from the other bots was running far too strongly to allow the situation to continue, and the Prime ordered an investigation. They managed to keep the investigation from Sam.

Unfortunately, the evidence was damning. The dinobots were from the same temple as Swoop the High Judge; they admitted to coming for and to carrying out the investigation into the All-Spark going into Sam, and they never informed Optimus or any of the others of their background or intentions. There was no proof that they had tried to stop the trial, or in Slag's case did not know about it. There was no real proof that they had not attended and off-lined aftertward. Restrained, the dinobots stood awaiting sentencing. Optimus delayed judgment was being done as the hearing went on, but he felt he had no choice. The Prime rose to speak. "In the name of Primus and the All-Spark-"and then stopped.

A haze appeared before the dinobots. That sent murmuring around the assembled bots. The haze gathered light, and then became a strong glow. Megatron would have recognized it.

"It seems I have not finished my judgment."

The murmurs stopped dead as each of them realized what this must be. Sludge whispered,"Sam," which were its first words since his testimony.

"My host is safe."

Many were strongly relieved, Optimus among them. "I do not understand," the Prime said.

"I was called by one of my priests in a ritual that removes traces of my presence from one who tried to take my power for personal reasons. In such a trial, the one who holds the power is judged, and if innocent, the ones who called are judged. I need not defend my host here, but these were involved, and I did not judge them."

"No," Optimus agreed. "We have come together to investigate these four for their part in that trial. "

"Therefore I must judge these." 

"I defer to your judgment," Optimus said, with real relief. 

A haze appeared over all the dinobots, one at a time. As the haze left each of them, the restraints on them fell off. Every trace of damage disappeared. Then a hole appeared in the glow, and a hologram played, showing the arguments Sludge made for Sam to Swoop and the off-lining of the three minor priests. Then one appeared that seemed to be from Sam's point of view, where Swoop told him what was happening. Following was the trial from the time the All-Spark was called, and that judgment. It was clear to anyone watching that the four were not involved in the trial, and the three there had tried to prevent it. "My faithful ones, I absolve you of blame, and I release you . Prime, I commend these to your service. They kept their oaths, to me and to your cause. If you wish further contact with me, please speak to my willing host." And it was gone.

At the base Sam woke up and levered himself upright. He came out of the room to find Jeremy and Minnie camped at the door, waiting. When they saw he could barely stay upright, they helped him to his add-on. "I'm just tired," he assured them, and let Jeremy check him over so they would feel better. "We're going to have a pile of bots back here in a few minutes, and a lot of them will be ashamed of themselves," he predicted. As if to underscore what he said, there was the sound of heavy feet and the squeal and rush of the sparklings. Sam pushed up and went out. Jeremy helped the more awkward Minnie get up and followed.

The sight was heartwarming. All of the sparklings were gathered around Slag, clicking and squealing. Sam could see the other dinobots and Optimus behind them. "What are they saying?" Minnie asked Sam. They did not see Sludge glance over, and Optimus turn to see why.

"They got into the obstacle course again, sounds like." Just then the blue one came over and claimed Sam, drawing him over to their teacher while telling him about the changes they had made in the obstacle course. When he reached Slag, the teacher called them into a kind of order.

"Time to be heading back," he said. The little bots raced ahead. "Thanks for saving us. Are you all right?" Slag asked quietly.

"I didn't save you, the presence did. I'm a little tired," Sam admitted. Looking behind him, he saw Optimus and the other dinobots. "The presence got me to the prototype before it answered the summons. Right in the middle of my lunch, too."

"I need to get to the little ones before Ironhide does. See you later." Slag went after the sparklings.

"I didn't know you spoke Cybertronian," Sludge said.

"I don't," Sam said. "A human mouth can't, and some of the words are out of our hearing." He thought he danced around that pretty neatly. He looked over at Minnie and Jeremy. Minnie looked puzzled and Jeremy grinned. When Minnie looked like she was going to say something, Jeremy murmured in her ear and she smiled.

"It's true that no human will ever speak our language," Optimus agreed, and Sam nodded, hiding his relief. "But when were you going to tell me that you understood it, Sam?"

Behind him, he heard Minnie say, "Oops."

"Busted," Sam said.

The tension around everyone exploded in a wash of heartfelt laughter.


End file.
